Worst Case Scenario Spark of Hope
by Ouchimoo
Summary: This is an alternate ending from Dragonrider2203's 'Worst Case Scenario.' Which is, an alternate ending to TF 1 Where Megatron wins. He gets the cube and takes Sam as a pet and Bumblebee as a slave. No other Autobot is on earth to counter Megatron.
1. Chapter 1

_Worst Case Scenario ~ Spark of Hope 'Alternate ending.'_

_First of all I am so grateful to Dragonrider2203 for letting me steal her muse and build off of her Chapter 1 on Worst Case Scenario. Which means *shameless plug* you need to read 'Worst Case Scenario' Ch 1 first before you can read this one. Story ID # 5267434_

_Rated T for swearing._

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Passively with his head glued parallel to the floor, Bee slowly climbed up the stairs towards Megatron's chambers. As an obedient stooge he held out a large flask of blueish liquid over his head in offering. His optic never dared venture a glance upwards. Never dared to face his _master_. Two years now and that thought still made him sick. Megatron snatched the canister out so haphazardly he managed to leave a new set of claw marks in Bumblebee's hands. Megatron rose to his feet and prowled around his open castle.

"Such a glorious day, isn't it." He smiled and opened the flask and fed it to his spark. With sheer contentment he made a motion of what would be a satisfactory sigh as the energy soared into the red glow in his chest. It pulsed brightly in return. Bumblebee sat busy examining his hand. His repair cycles weren't what they used to be and wondered how many weeks it would take to heal. _Whack!_ The canister thwacked against Bee's head. Bee flinched back to sniveling groveling.

"Now get out of my sight!" Megatron roared as he came stomping towards Bumblebee. The yellow Autobot scattered. From experience he knew that if he wasn't quick enough, Megatron would bare down on him, unleashing an assortment of punishments. As Bumblebee quickly scampered away from the chamber he glanced back to see a cage swinging in the grisly air. It was empty. Bee's remaining optic sparked. He trotted down the stairs. As soon as he was out of sight behind a large pillar he quickly scanned the room for a biological life form. There was none. Quickly he surveyed the street below. There was a signature, but his sensors were too damaged to tell correctly without getting closer._ Sam!_

He quietly slipped down towards the street. A few more mentally sound drones and Decepticons flung insults and kicks his way. He lay low and docile until they were out of sight. For two years they had come to expect him as their punching bag for frustration or a reminder of how high and mighty they are compared to the fallen Autobots. Bumblebee's only reason for putting up with that was because A) Megatron, and B) Megatron's possession of the boy. However Sam was absent without Megatron's knowledge. If Bee could find Sam and hide before Megatron wised up, he was willing to take his chances with A.

It was best to kept a low profile. He even rubbed mud over his Autobot emblem to avoid uneasy glares and unnecessary confrontations. As he smeared the dark goop over the red embossing he could feel the scratches Megatron left on it. Megatron liked seeing it only because he liked seeing it on such a submissive pile of scrap heap. Whenever making mention to the word 'Autobot' he would thump the thorn of his claw on it to scuff and mar the symbol Bumblebee held so sacred. Now it was covered in shame. Bee's spark sank.

Bumblebee was in the streets now. He was out looking for his leash. All these risks for the one hope that he could find it and hide themselves somewhere safe. These streets weren't that high risk to Bumblebee. Barely anything that crawled around here had much more intelligence than a toaster. Even so, he needed to be low key. He bounded in the direction he last picked up the human's presence. A moment of optimism. His sensors were coming up positive with organic life forms ahead of him. He couldn't tell, but it was either three forms or his sensors were malfunctioning. He shook his head a little to see if it would remedy the problem. No go. He pushed forward.

Then a familiar sound of weapon fire and explosions caused him to cast aside his subtle demeanor. He bolted into a run. His feet pounded the broken concrete. As he got closer to the action his audio sensors picked up multiple voices. It was a dead end for Sam but they sounded like they needed help. Bee stopped running for a moment and examined a quick way to the roof.

Down below three humans were running between the buildings with several Decepticons trailing behind them. The metal monsters were gaining, which left the humans with little time to turn and shoot. Two dodged into an alley. The last one worked her way to the opening when a large explosion blocked her path.

"Sari!" One of the men yelled as he threw out his grungy hand to her.

"Save it! I'll catch you at the next pass." She ran past them feeling the escalating danger fold around her. It was a suicide mission now. She knew it and she cursed under her breath. Up above Bee followed along the rooftop. Two humans passed down an alley and dropped into an exposed sewer system. Two drones followed suit but by the time Bee ran perpendicular to the location their sparks fazed out. _The humans disabled two sparks in such a short amount of time? _Bee was curious but had other pressing matters at hand.

Sari didn't have the fortune to dispatch her followers. She turned her head to see a massive metalized beast at her heels. Behind that were several other robotic monsters. Her brain screamed at the realization that the next exit from this awful terrain was six hundred yards ahead. The metallic beasts would be on her in three. Yet, she pushed forward. She was leaving it up to fate or chance now. Hopefully one of them cared.

One hundred yards. Two hundred yards. Two hundred and fifty the great metal dragon collapsed behind her. She caught the noise and turned her head. Her mind couldn't grasp all the information at once but she got the most important. Missiles were being launched towards her. As fast as her feet could carry her wasn't enough to avoid the impacts completely. They landed behind her and caused her to fly forward through the air. Her body impacted the ground and slid. Her weapon skidded farther still. Sari grunted as her senses were insulted by the smell of caustic fumes and pain. She couldn't make it to her feet but she was determined to get to her gun and fight. Behind her Bee had used the large metal body as shielding and a hiding spot for another surprise attack. _Surprise._ He launched his fist into the approaching Decepticon's head. Using the momentum, he one-eightied around and caught his footing to continue running. Just as Sari had the gun strap in her hand she turned to see a hulking robot soar towards her. She braced herself on wobbly knees as her hand caught the butt of the gun.

"Hurk!" She bellowed as she felt the impact. It wasn't what she expected though. For one, she was still breathing. Second, she looked around with confusion and saw that she had been scooped up in two powerful arms. She didn't go into a panic. No, her instinct was too concentrated on her anger. She pulled at the gun strap but it was trapped on the outside of the robot's fingers. Her body was pushed up to his chest plate making it too difficult for her to aim the gun anyways. She cursed. She could feel the warm spark pulse inside and if she had her gun a single shot could put the creature down.

Bee crashed into a corner of a building. Or rather the corner crashed into him as a barrage of explosions pelted debris into the air. He continued plotting across the ground looking for an escape. He was already regretting this. Hopefully the AllSpark only gave them the spark of life but not the mind to tell Megatron what he was up to. Sari looked out to see that her second exit just passed her. She growled and continued to work with the gun strap, edging the gun closer to her grasp. It was difficult because the robot that was carrying her was bouncing around relentlessly. Bee reached an intersection. In the opening before him was more trouble. Without a nanosecond's blip he bounced off towards a side passage. It was down a very narrow alley way. He had to slow down to prevent his movements from shoving his doors and arms against the brick building. Behind him the brainless creatures tried following but most were too big to fit through. Little ones came behind but without the intelligence to dictate a plan, a power struggle ensued instead.

Sari was pushed up even closer to the Autobot's chest as he strafed the wall. It was slowly dawning on her that it was feeling more like an uncomfortable hug rather than a threat. Bee trotted out of the alley. He really had to give it to Megatron at keeping his sparklings really dumb. They were so busy struggling to go through the passage they failed to realize they could just go around. _Easier for him to control _Bee amused. Near him was a road that was broken open and an underground cavern was exposed. He slipped down through the hole and continued running until his scanners quit buzzing with danger.

He slowed to a stop. Carefully he set the girl down and stepped forward to survey the upcoming landscape. Sari behind him grasped her gun and pulled it towards her. It made a dragging noise. Bumblebee turned back to her and pursed his finger up over what humans would perceive as a mouth piece. The human universal for '_quiet, please_'. Sari raised an eyebrow of disbelief and stepped backwards. Her mind struggled to grasp that he just signaled to her in a human gesture. Bee tried to return his watchful eye to his surroundings but his optic caught something foreign on his hands. They were spotted with blood.

"You're hurt." He spoke with concern as his optic flashed to look her over. Her frown turned into a gape. She looked down at her side and pressed her hand to her body. Pulling it away reveled crimson on her fingers. Sure enough, she was. Her mind acknowledged and responded in kind by signaling pain receptors to activate. She doubled over slightly.

"Is there anywhere you can go for help?" His voice sounded almost human. Almost. It was soft yet scratchy and of course a hint of metallic. She stared at him. He took the moment to survey the area once more. If she had half the mind, she would shoot his spark out. Right now, right here. She shook her head and started walking forward.

"I'm going out of my mind." She muttered. Bumblebee watched her intently and began to follow her. She stopped with acknowledgment of the first footsteps, she looked back and glared at him. Not really sure what to do or say in response, he shrugged. She stepped away with her eyes fixed on him. The adrenaline that was saturated in her body started to recede. It caused a moment of dizziness in her. The Autobot was more attuned to sensing this than she was. She had learned to ignore it.

"You shouldn't be straining yourself." Bumblebee muttered thoughtfully. He stepped back and started his transformation. Sari's response was to line up the robot in her scope. Bumblebee paused with concern at the response but after two years, it was probably expected. His transformation was complete, followed by a strange stare off between a yellow sports car and an armed woman. Even with her finger on the trigger and her aim steady, Bumblebee cautiously edged closer and offered an empty seat. He then stayed completely motionless. Her eyes slowly broke away from the little orange reticle and examined the yellow car. At one point it was a beautiful, sleek car. Now it was marked full of tattered fragments of metal, scratches and scorch marks.

He rolled forward quietly edging the door opening closer to her.

"What the hell." She stiffened. It was a mix of a question and a statement. Seconds rolled on by and the car patently waited for her. _C__uriosity killed the cat. _She mused with a crooked half smile. More moments passed. _What did it want? _She shot glances around. Now minutes. Then slowly, she stepped into the drivers seat. _Bye Miss kitty. _The door shut but the car waited for her command. She eased her hands on the wheel. Quietly the car drove off.

* * *

After all those years of being mute he suddenly could speak again. But fate had a cruel sense of humor and she implemented it well with irony. The first words that came out of his vocal processor was, "Optimus!? No!"

As they retreated and went into hiding, despair had fallen over his spark and his desire to speak plummeted. It only worsened as Megatron and the other Decepticons slowly picked away the only friends he had left. Mikaela ended up being the hardest to deal with. After Sam's disappearance, Bumblebee could only assume death, he took on the role of being Mikaela's guardian.

Megatron hunted them down. Bumblebee used himself as a distraction and it worked as long as Megatron didn't realized Bumblebee's ploy. Lots of words could be used to describe Megatron. Impatient, rash, impulsive but stupid wasn't one of them.

"Fee Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of a fleshling." Megatron amused while discontinuing his search for the last Autobot in pursuit of someone who could not hide her scent so readily. The evil being laughed heartily as the screaming girl wrenched Bumblebee out of hiding. He ascended in the air with his prize and kept a slow pace so that the Autobot on the ground below could follow.

This was now a game for Megatron and Bumblebee's desperation made him a willing pawn. First was the horror of realizing that Megatron had been keeping Sam as a toy. Then he watched helplessly as Megatron obliterated Mikaela in front of both Bee and Sam. Bumblebee fought as valiantly as he could. In the end his head was struck to the ground so hard that half of his sensors went off line, including one of his blue optics. The fight was over and Bumblebee submitted to his fate. Megatron fanged a vicious smile. _You're not getting off that easily for all the trouble you caused me!_ Rage burned into him at how the great Decepticon was deceived by such an unworthy advisory. How he had been distracted by this scrap heap as the AllSpark was sent out into space. Oh no, there was a special place in hell for Bumblebee.

"_Submit to me and I'll let the boy live._"

Until just a few minutes ago, Bumblebee hadn't spoken since.

The tunnels he was driving through were a mixture of sewers, subway lines and carved out caves. It would have been surprising how quickly things turned into wastelands had he not seen it once before. Things were quiet. Too quiet for either beings tastes.

"So," Bumblebee's voice broke the silence. The tension was going to be a lot harder to dismantle. Sari looked down at the swaying steering wheel. Her eyes were filled with distrust. Bumblebee was driving. She took no interest in the deception that she was in control of the situation. After the long pause Bumblebee awkwardly continued, "there must be a human settlement somewhere you can get aid from?" At least he hoped.

The agony of silence responded. He turned on the radio and scanned for radio waves and signals that might tell him something. His passenger lurched with unease when she heard that the robot could access their communications. Bumblebee picked up on the response and turned the radio down. He didn't want to turn it off however in case someone relayed that a young emaciated boy wandered into their camp. Bumblebee was always known for his optimism.

They drove around aimlessly in the tunnels for what seemed like hours. Tension never ceased between the two. Bumblebee used this opportunity to at least map out the tunnels to his memory. He had been quite lost roaming around ever since satellite and internet went offline. He made a couple mentions that she should seek medical help. Even if she stopped bleeding externally Bee still worried about internal bleeding. She prodded her stomach as to check herself but she never once muttered a sound.

_Well this is just delightful. _Bee would have rolled his eyes if he had them. If he could just get her to ease up a-

Bee suddenly killed the engine, the lights and locked down the doors. Sari's eyes widened at the sudden lock down. A moment of pause then the gear shifted itself into neutral and the car quietly backed down the way it had come. She sat up to see what the reaction was for. As quick as everything had died it sprung back to life. The gear jammed into drive and the wheels screeched as the car spun around. Zero to sixty faster than any car commercial could have ever boasted, the car blasted down the corridor. Behind them another car squealed it's tires.

The yellow Camaro muttered something in Cybertronian. It seized Sari's heart to hear that language. They crashed over a large pot hole and Bumblebee inadvertently translated his words to English,

"Damnit!"

The car closed up behind them fast. Black like a black hole with a wicked light that gleamed off it. So vividly it looked like black teeth, grimacing black teeth. Bee made a high speed turn. Halfway through the turn the road turned to sand and the tires slid uncontrollably straight. Bee cursed again in Cybertronian. The black Jaguar XKR roared towards him. The Camaro's tires continued to spin and suddenly caught friction again. It blew by the Jaguar. The Jaguar lurched at Bumblebee and thrashed open it's door with it's suddenly protruding spikes into Bee's side. It was enough to throw his course into the wall. The car scraped against the wall before Bee accelerated towards the center again. He had a plan. It wasn't a very good plan but at hand he didn't have a lot of options. Just his luck, a Decepticon. A real, vicious, cybertronian Decepticon. Engines roared through the narrow tunnels. The last two years of wear and tear really showed their true colors right now. Bumblebee had a hard time out pacing the black car. Worse thoughts popped into Bumblebee's systems. He couldn't keep this charade up forever.

He was coming to the end of his plotted course. Near the end of this tunnel was a piece of asphalt that had fallen from the world above. It might give him enough of a ramp to get topside. Where hopefully the overwhelming scent of robotic beings loitering around could mask his trail. His spark-nullifyer was now _proven_ to be in decommission.

"You're not going to make it!" Sari yelped.

_Thanks, I needed that._ Bumble thought sarcastically. He shifted to high gear and ramped. Gunning everything he had towards the pavement. He jumped badly.

The front wheels had cleared but the undercarriage of the car banked into the rubble. Bumblebee threw his front tires into a frenzy and the momentum allowed his back tires to catch. He spun frantically trying to get enough friction with something. Exhilaration surged through him as his back tires hit a nick and he was able to pull himself free. He chirped in triumph as he bolted away from the hole in the ground. A scrape of metal and an angry engine stranded below furthered his excitement that was able to push his energy banks for just a little bit farther. He forgot how good it felt to make a stand against the enemy. Time for celebration fell short though. Racing away from one lowly Decepticon in the face of everything else lost was infinitesimal in comparison. Especially when out of the corner of his window he sited the alien jet of Megatron. He squealed his tires as he jerked a stupid move to hide himself so quickly in a partially demolished building. Bee killed the engines. Sari's heart pulsed inside her chest. She had seen him too. She breathed heavily and by the way the car was venting warm air into the chamber and trying to quiet the whir of an engine fan she mused that the car was doing the same thing. Neither dared to do anything until an extended period of time passed.

Allotting that enough time passed Bumblebee weakened and sagged into his chassis.

"I have to ask something of you." The car spoke wearily. "I know you don't want to relinquish any of your safeties to me, but" Bumblebee paused, "I need a place to hide." His voice infinitesimally weak. She looked down at the dashboard. The look in her eyes was no longer of distrust but curiosity. Bee confessed farther, "I am really low on energy right now, and if I can't find a safe place to recharge soon," he paused again, his voice processor strained. "I'll go into a mandatory shutdown." What he did today was stupid. Very, very stupid. What's worse is he doesn't even have a clue where Sam is. What if Megatron just did something just to toy with him. His spark froze at the thought. Sari startled when she felt the car roll back unexpectedly. It stopped with what seemed to be the robot catching himself in thought.

"Okay?"

* * *

No word in English or Cybertronian could express how grateful Bumblebee was.

"Stop here." Sari ordered. Bee obliged.

"What is that?" Bumblebee asked as he saw a strange orange flag hammered into the side of the wall. Sari sighed, she hoped he wouldn't have noticed it.

"It's a marker."

"I can see that. For what?"

She sighed again finally relinquishing her knowledge. "It's a trap set for robots like you." Bumblebee nodded on his tires. Not that Sari was versed in understanding robot-turning-into-talking-car body language to see it. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

She walked down the passage way glancing back a few times to make sure the car was doing as he was told. _What a weird day._ She shook her head as she walked into a welcoming site. It was a small outpost for the human resistance. Right now it was sparely populated. As she stepped through she was warmly greeted by an older woman. Sari smiled and hugged the women affectionately even though she couldn't remember her name.

"Oh my goodness, child. You're hurt." Sari simply smiled and nodded. She'd been through worse.

* * *

She had the chance to get cleaned up and have her wounds bandaged. No serious damage thankfully. She glanced over to a large duffel bag that was set over in a corner.

"Is that what I think it is?" She asked. The lady nodded. Sari sighed with unease. "You mind if I take it back with me?"

The lady who tended to her looked at her with mild surprise then replying warmly, "Yeah, sure. I don't see why not."

Sari's stomach lurched and twisted inside her. She had the people's trust and now what she was considering could be viewed as betrayal. She picked it up and turned back to the woman.

"I'm heading to Outpost Twelve. I have a couple comrades there that I'm going to try and regroup with." She smiled wryly. At least if she does betray everyone, they now know where to find her. As she turned to leave a handful of men entered the base.

"Where'd you come from?" Sari yelped in shock. The men looked at her. Two looked at each other.

"Uh, through that opening right there." One of the men still sporting a protective mask replied as he pointed at the entrance. One of the younger men swatted his shoulder with the back of his hand. All in a good chuckle of redundancy.

"You didn't see anything strange." She kept her warrior demeanor even as fear welled up inside her.

One guy narrowed his eyes, "What like we were followed? Nah, we're too good for that."

"Why, you think something weird is going on?" This guy replied with tension growing on his nerves.

"No, I. I just had a weird day." Sari chuckled. "I'm sorry for coming off strange like this. I almost got my ass handed to me by a bunch of metal heads." She pulled up her shirt to expose her bandages. The men smiled and nodded solemnly. A couple reached out to pat her shoulders encouragingly.

"Take care out there." One waved her off.

* * *

She walked back to where she left the car.

"Mr. Robot?" She called out in a loud whisper. She looked around to see an empty cavern. A small rumble of small rocks moving out of place caught her to glance upwards. With the ease of tremendous strength the robot lifted himself out of his hiding place. With one arm he gracefully set himself on the floor. Sari check to see if the coast was clear before motioning the robot to follow her.

She led him down a tunnel with a series of dead ends.

"Nobody ever comes down here. This should be a safe place for you to sleep." She turned and looked at the robot in the eye. Her gut wrenched at the thought about what she was going to do. She looked down at the bag. _He saved my life, he deserves it._ She told herself. She set the bag down and opened it up to expose the contents. Bee looked on in curiosity. She pulled out a large container that required two arms to lift it. Not that it was that heavy, it was just big. She handed it over to the large robot. He delicately took it with a cocked head. Now the container looked barely the size of a soda can. His optic lit up as he realized she was offering him energon. As she was struggling with her gut reaction and picking up the bag, she realized he was staring at it.

"It's not good enough?" She questioned a little defeated. Bee whirred his voice box as he looked at her in surprise.

"No, no, it's just-" he trailed off. All the times he had to fetch Megatron's 'breakfast' Bee toyed with the idea of taking energon for himself. He never dared to for Sam's sake.

"I'm not sure what more I could really offer you." She responded coolly but defensively.

He still looked at her in shock. She was _clearly_ misunderstanding him. He considered thoughtfully for a moment before speaking.

"Well, if you have any time travel and a miracle, I would rather have that instead." _Honestly. I'd give anything for that!_

Sari looked at him as if he was trying to communicate with her in Cybertronian. Suddenly she burst out a bawk of laughter before catching herself. He made a joke. She couldn't believe it. His optic softened on her. He turned back to the flask. He glanced back at her one last time for verification that was okay. He could sense her apprehension but she never once objected.

He prepared himself by setting himself up higher on his exoskeleton. He placed his fingers on the top of the flask to remove the lid. Before doing so he wondered if he wasn't just imagining this. Did Megatron hit him really hard on the head to knock an important connection loose? Only one way to find out. He popped the top off of the container and tapped open his armor to expose his spark. His spark surged and quaffed in the energy. Bee tensed up at the sensation, dropping the canister. His spark surged and flitted wildly. Then bright blue energy electrified and sparked across his gray and yellow metal. He arched and his head crooked up while his hands involuntarily tried to make a fist. His fingers couldn't come together so they strained in a crux of a claw. Sensors that he had long forgotten about suddenly and rapidly flared up all across his body, as well as forgotten pain. With the canister depleted and rolling on the floor and the spark with nothing more to gain relinquished it's grasp to the air. Bumblebee fell back and caught himself against the wall. His sparked pulsed irregularly as it cycled in the new energy. In no way was it pure energon but it was so good. Even a little terrifying. Bee's body convulsed as the impure but raw energy cycled through his old systems spreading out through all the metal inlays regenerating old nano repair modules that had long been dormant. It hurt. It burned. It soared. It was rejuvenating! Bumblebee finally relaxed. His optic glowed just a little bit brighter. Even the dead one hinted a minor glow. Bee pushed his chest plate together as he realized that it was very exposed in front of a human who wasn't exactly an ally. It locked and the body vented in cold new air.

Sari stared at him in fascination. And now, she was expecting him to fly into a rage and tear her limb from limb. No explanation as to why she thought that, just with a human's luck against a robot it seemed like the most natural result. Maybe some of his systems were broken and she just reactivated them. Like it's 'kill all humans' protocol. Her mind could come up with more rationalizations for her thinking, but thought stop; he looked directly at her. Instinctively she reached for her gun. Instead he picked himself up off the wall and walked a few paces away from her. His arms braced themselves on the frame conjunction to his legs. He just stood there in his moment of silence. Okay, no kill humans protocol?

"So, what are you?" She stepped up closer to him. "Were you a malfunction when Megatron made you?"

The mechanoid whipped in her direction. His face locked down on her's. The one optic blighted so bright it scorched deep into her soul. The reaction was so quick and severe she had actually forgot about her gun at hand. And she had suddenly remembered just how big the thing is. Her body froze. There was something on his face. Vicious evil? Did the word Megatron just snap him back into kill mode? He was in kill mode now she was sure of it.

She wasn't apt at reading Cybertronian emotion. Far from it. She didn't have a clue. What she thought looked like shear rage and impulse for blood was actually the look of ****ing disbelief. Not disbelief, but _****ing disbelief._

"w-What?" The robot's voicebox stammered. She didn't move. Bumblebee reeled back. "That has to be the most insulting thing anybody has _EVER_ said to me!"

"?" Sari was too flabbergasted to even make a word. She tried though.

He shook his head and turned to leave. Two steps in he turned back to look at her in bewilderment. One step back towards her. "Did you really just ask-?" He shook his head. "No!" His head continued to roll like a bobble figure. He then coasted up his hand to catch it still.

"Sorry." She whimpered.

Bumblebee who still couldn't get past staring at her over that comment made a cough noise. Over loading his vocal processor actually. The sudden spark of pain was enough to detach himself to finally change the subject.

"Soo, where did you get the energon from?" He stared down at the empty flask on the floor resisting the urge to stare at her again.

Okay, She insulted him. Very badly apparently. And yet he didn't go into kill mode. He didn't even threaten her. Maybe he didn't have that kill humans directive after all. She could move again.

"What?" She chortled. Her hand awkwardly reached up to scratch her scalp. "You think people who are forced to die collecting energon for Megatron wouldn't risk their lives giving it to their own people?"

Bumblebee let the words linger, to let them have their ire before asking a follow up. "But where do they get it from?"

"Earth's core."

"I see." It explained the impurities.

"And when that's depleted. Megatron will activate the Sun Harvester in Egypt."

"Sun Harvester!?!" Bee's optic blighted and dropped on Sari's detached expression. She looked up at him.

"Yeah." Followed by intensive examination of the robot who started whirring and clicking to itself. Bumblebee's optic intently focused on nothing at all.

"How could there be a Sun Harvester here? There's no way Megatron could have gotten enough energon back to Cyberton to get the supplies. Not in just two years!"

"It's been there a while. Before our written records. It was hidden away under one of the pyramids." Her tone was flat but her eyes were full of wonderment. Bee glanced a look at her then back to the wall. His optic twirled the light inside it and his metallic features shifted slightly. By his tone she was finally able to understand his current expression. Deep thought and confusion. Suddenly his weight bared down on his legs and he had to reach out to the wall to catch himself. Air vented through his systems and he crackled something in Cybertronian. Sari didn't know what he said but the last click and static sounded like the word 'Megatron.' She silently stepped away.

_'Damn you Megatron!' _So. Even if they _had _succeeded in stopping Megatron from getting the All Spark, Earth would have still had a big target painted on it's sphere. It really did seem like Megatron had the universe wrapped around his little claw. He noted that his human companion was becoming uneasy with his sulking. For the best probably. Nothing will get accomplished when dwelling on 'what ifs'. Even if he had enough to spend eons dwelling on them.

He straightened himself up. Another conversation changer. Something simple. Something _not_ negative. Sari beat him to the punch.

"So? Is there something I can call you? Maybe something besides Mr. Robot?"

"Bumblebee."

"Uh, okay? Mr. Bumblebee."

"Heh. No, just Bumblebee."

"Sari." She smiled. Bee nodded his head in return. "So what kind of name is Bumblebee anyways?"

_Whir?*_ "What kind of name is sorry?"

Quiet laughter but a loud smile. "Oh, so you're a wise guy are ya?" A warm blue optic glowed at her. The other sparkled as it tried. Sari sighed. "I should probably get going. Take care of yourself Mr. Bumblebee." She waved as she headed towards the exit.

"Sari!" She looked. "Will I ever see you again?"

She sighed, "Probably not. It would be best." Nodes and parts all over Bumblebee's body sagged like a dog hiding it's tail. He whirred out a whimper on his servos. She pretended she didn't notice it.

"Then," Bumblebee walked up to her and knelt down so he could be closer to eye level, "take care. And I thank you."

"For what?"

"For helping me," his optic darted back in thought then back to her, "and for smiling." She stared at him stunned. She then shot an uneasy smile. He looked like he wanted to say more but he backed up allowing her room to leave.

"Kay." She whispered, waved and then disappeared into the darkness. Bumblebee went to find a corner to recharge in. The energon surged his systems but he still felt exhausted. It didn't help that he hadn't had a decent recharge in the last seven hundred Earth rotational cycles.

* * *

Three Earth rotational cycles later.

* * *

"Sari! Where have you been sista? We've been looking all over for you!"

"Looking for me!? I was looking at every station from here to Junction Fifteen! Where the hell were you?"

"We must have been playing tag." A big tooth filled smiles all around. Marcus was older of the three. He was in his early thirties but due to his newly acquired experience he was aging fast. Riley was a little younger than Sari and a good deal scrawnier. His hair always had a crazy style to it. Sari shook her head with a smile at the ridiculous 'Goku' hairstyle he was sporting this time. She noogied him as she greeted him. She then wiped the gunky oils off on his coat.

"What are you using robot grease for hair gel or what?" Sari quipped at him.

"It's the best out there!" Riley smugged back combing his hair back on end.

"Sari, do you still have that tank of energon?" Marcus asked instantly ruining the happy reunion for Sari. Marcus still had a big grin on his face.

"Why? What do you need it for."

Marcus lowered his head towards her, his voice was almost giddy. "Seven and Rainman are coming to City."

"What!?"

"Yeah, they are bringing a weapon with them! One that should take out Megatron and all the Decepticons out, all at once!" Riley brimmed with excitement. Sari stared at them as excitement expanded through her.

"Bring down Megatron!?" She squealed.

"Yeah, but it needs a lot of energon to power it. So we should get that energon tank to them."

Reality snap. "I, I don't have it."

"You left it at a different outpost?"

"No." She looked at them with sorrowful eyes. "I need to tell you something." She looked around, it was scarcely populated but that was still too many. "But in private."

* * *

"Sari, it's a Decepticon!" Riley cried at her.

"But he was so human like!" Sari protested. "I could _feel_ the emotions dripping off of him!"

"That's what they do! They _deceive _people! Sari! Decepti as in deception. You know that!" Riley continued.

"I thought you'd understand!" Sari bit her lip.

"Sari, we do! But you were taken advantage of. You were susceptible to it's persuasion and you fell for it. It's - ." Marcus was interrupted.

"Susceptible to its persuasion? What are you saying, I'm easily duped?"

"Well?" Marcus tried to think his words carefully.

"Why? Because I'm the only girl in the group? Suddenly I'm stupid and naive!?"

"I didn't say that."

"You implied it."

"What? No! Sari, you were taken advantage of because you ended up getting stranded out there by yourself. And that was my fault, I should have taken better care of my team! Look Sari, we do understand. But you have to remember this is how we lost Outpost Five." A pause and a sigh. "Riley's right, if he's one of the smarter ones, like you say he is, then his whole purpose is to get by our defenses. Which means that they know about the weapon. And we most certainly don't need another Jaguar hunting in our tunnels."

"So what do we do? We can't just go and tell everyone that Sari invited a robot down here, they'd kill her for treason! Especially when they find out she gave it energon."

"Then we have to take care of it ourselves." Marcus threw a long look at Sari. She flinched and darted her eyes away. She never felt so worthless before. "Don't worry about the energon, if anyone asks we lost it during a raid."

"Yeah." She replied with eyes glued to the floor, her voice flat.

"Look Sari, don't worry about it. We'll fix this." Marcus encouraged.

"But what if you're wrong, what if he really did need help?"

"Sari." Marcus trailed off. "Look I know you may have felt a connection. You have to remember how damn cleaver those things are. They are especially apt at manipulating people. Sari, I'm sorry, but you have to stop fighting this. That thing needs to be destroyed and that's that."

* * *

They headed through the tunnels back to Outpost Nine. The post where Sari picked up the energon and near where she hid Bumblebee. Sari sulked behind them. Marcus gave her a watchful glance. As he did this the radio crackled.

_#Outpost Nine! Come in! We need reinforcements, Black Jaguar is on the prowl! I repeat Black Jaguar is on the prowl!#_

"Son of a b- they must have paired up for a tag team! We got to get over there fast!" Marcus shifted his gun to his hands and began running. Way far off in the distance tire screeching echoed through the caverns.

* * *

"Outpost Nine! Hurry!" With his finger on the radio, Nick flew down the hall as fast as his feet could muster. Ear piercing screeching of wheels echoed behind him.

"Behind you!" Another freedom fighter yelled to him. She leveled her weapon and unleashed a barrage of fire. Then to her horror, clicking. "Shit, I'm out!"

The radio was dropped when his foot nearly gave out under him. Nick barely balanced himself to continued running down the corridor. The car easily advanced on him.

"ROAD KILL!" It roared out in English to his own amusement. He had successfully worked to deplete most of the humans of their ammunition with barely receiving a scratch. And now with his elite hunting skills he will destroy all the fleshlings before they can make it past their sacred little flags. The black teeth were smiling.

At least, he thought that until another car screeched it's tires. Bumblebee pulled out of the cavern on the other side of the human's position. His tires squealed as he banked out of the side passage and turned without ever touching the break. At close proximity to the slowest human, Bumblebee swerved to intercept the gap between him and the Jaguar's path. The humans barely had time to even gawk at the sudden appearance of a second robot.

"Mother of Mary!" Nick breathed as a yellow Camaro's back bumper missed him by barely a few inches. He turned back to see the Jaguar roll out of the path and by the time it touched the adjacent wall, it was a robot. Bumblebee transformed.

The black Jaguar having the upper hand from transforming first, leaped at Bumblebee. Bumblebee being the more apt fighter slipped out of the way, grabbed Roadkill's head and smashed into the wall. As Roadkill pulled his head out of the wall and turned to face the Autobot, Bumblebee landed a strong punch toppling the Jaguar. The Jaguar went down, swung out his leg knocking Bumblebee's feet out from under him. Thickset as a cargo ship but graceful as a cat Bumblebee caught himself on his hands, rolled over them returning himself to his feet.

"What the hell!" The resistance stopped to gawk at this incredibly inconceivable concept. Sure the robots had a lot of in fighting, but never at the opportunity to wipe out a whole squadron.

"Keep moving!"

The Camaro and the Jaguar locked grips over each other. Trying to break the brace both managed to hit a few walls in the tiny enclosure. The Jaguar threw up his leg on Bumblebee's chest and knocked Bumblebee back, impact to the wall. Jaguar charged. Bumblebee slipped under him, grabbed and rolled him over his shoulder crashing him down onto the earth.

"My prey!" Roadkill growled in cybertonian and transformed into a car and bolted down after the humans. Predictably Bumblebee followed suit.

The black car closed the gap between him and the humans again. His trunk popped open and a volley of explosives bounced out to slow down his pursuer. He then did a three-sixty to spill out more explosives to take care of any humans that might be too close. Two humans darted into a passageway. The rest ran forward. Explosions blasted inside the enclosed walls. The force crumbled walls and ceilings. The Jaguar flipped back into his natural form and awaited inside the eye of the explosions. He flipped out his cannons and blindly unleashed a volley of fire through the smoke at Bumblebee. He then braced himself for what he expected to be another close combat robot verses robot fight. Instead Bumblebee gassed it. The Jaguar stood their dumbfounded for a moment, then the car rammed him. The force knocked the large robot on top of the Camaro. Roadkill grabbed the roof with one hand and reached back with the other and rammed his claws through Bumblebee's hood. The car screeched tires as it began swerving wildly from the pain. He nearly hit people as a result. He tried to knock the Jaguar into the wall to stop him, but he ended up scratching himself in the process. More claws thrashing the Autobot's armor trying to find something tender. Bumbleebee gritted his gears from the pain and then sped up. The illogical move made the Jaguar turn to look where the car was going. His spark shockwaved through his body when he saw Bumblebee was racing towards a little orange flag.

"You fool! You'll kill us both!" He screamed. Bumblebee slammed on the brakes and sent the Jaguar flying. He tumbled, then using his claws, he stabbed them into the wall and the floor to stop his momentum just yards from the flag. Bumblebee sped forward, hoisted and rolled into a robot throwing out a kick. Roadkill jumped forward driving his claws into Bumblebee as he absorbed the kick. He wasn't going to go through that ray unless the Autobot went with him. The opposed forces connected and neither side went anywhere. Bumblebee didn't have time to scream at the pain as two sets of claws rammed through his armor. Bright yellow fluid sprayed from the wounds. Bumblebee grabbed at one of the arms and tried to punch it to break it at the joint. The Jaguar grabbed the fist before any damage could connect. He then pulled Bumblebee to his feet and smashed his face into the wall. Then a punch. Bumblebee stumbled backwards. Roadkill grabbed Bumblebee's shoulders and rammed him into the wall again. He then threw him at the other wall. Then he threw his fist at the Autobot.

Bumblebee's turn.

He slipped out of the path letting the fist connect with concrete. Then a wide slash with his fist to pelt the Decepticon across the face. He grabbed the Jaguar and pounded him first in one wall, then braced his feet up on the wall and lunged the Jaguar into the other. Roadkill went to his knees and Bumblebee cracked his elbow over Roadkill's head. For the moment he was dazed, Bumblebee took the opportunity to grab his arm, roll a circumference to gain momentum then toss the Jaguar towards the beam.

The Jaguar slid. When he stopped he then sat up. Out of the corner of his optic was a orange plastic flag that fluttered gently from the air stirred up by the combatants. He froze. Bumblebee took a few steps back, curled his fists into a defensive stance and waited for the Jaguar's reaction. With the energon having had a few days to course though his body some of his lost sensors were back online. Now he could see what the flag represented. Two bluish gray beams that crossed across the tunnel. One at leg level and the other was at chest level to a robot his size. The Jaguar had managed to slip in between them unharmed. It would have remained that way if he stayed absolutely still. But he didn't, he turned his head to look directly at the flag. An antenna on his head gear just tapped the blue line causing a flicker. Then, a blue explosion erupted out engulfing the Jaguar. It hit the other wall, then blasted through the tunnels showering them in a blue white energy. It rolled over Bumblebee and it caused his spark to burst. Seizing, he scrambled to the side passageway. Agony washed over his body and Bumblebee twitched as he fought with the horrible pain. He screeched. He almost threw open his chest plating to see how his spark was reacting but as he reached down he saw two humans in front of him. One had his gun leveled right at Bee's chest. Bumblebee flung himself to the wall. He suddenly had a very humbling respect for the human's weapons. They stared at each other. The one with a weapon was a child. His hand shaking visibly. The other was an older man. Strong and experienced but he was pinned under collapsed rubble and his gun was just out of his reach. Bumblebee slid down as his body still surged in pain. He was at the mercy of a child now, and the only thing he could do was stare, twitch, whine, and stare.

"Shoot it!" The man screamed at the boy. The boy stood there shaking. His grip tightened but his finger on the trigger didn't. "Shoot it!" The man barked again. Bee just sat there against the wall. His body tingled with festering, uncomfortable static. His spark pulsed frantically each time sending out a new wave of pain. "SHOOT IT!"

"I can't!" The boy sobbed. "I'm out!" His gun was still leveled but it was a worthless act. The man slumped his head back in defeat.

Bumblebee reached out behind him and braced his hands up on the wall. He slowly pulled himself to his feet.

"Get out of here." The man told the child flatly. The boy just frantically shook his head at the man. "Go! While you still can!"

"I'm not going to leave you!"

Another shock went through Bumblebee's chest. This time not from the struggling spark. _Sam!_ Sam had said that to Bumblebee as he tried to give him the All Spark.

"You have to!"

Bumblebee remembered wanting to say that to Sam but at the time his vocals still didn't work. The energy from the All Spark had not yet run their course or possibly he just didn't discover they worked yet.

The boy shook his head at the old man. Wet glistened under his nose. Bumblebee's pain faded slightly. He took a step forward.

"Don't you dare hurt him!" The man screamed and with all his strength tried to reach for his gun that was just beyond his grasp. Bumblebee reached down and plucked the gun away and tossed it out into the hall. He then motioned the boy to move. The frightened child instead collapsed and refused to budge. So Bumblebee gently pushed him out of the way. The boy stared at him as he braced to pick up the rock. A hefty piece of concrete had fallen from the ceiling and landed on top of the majority of the man's body. It would be easy to move for a robot his size, but with the way his body was shaking from the explosion he didn't want to risk dropping it on the man. In a good grasp, he pulled if off the man and rolled it to where the boy had been standing. He was indeed far weaker. He nearly toppled over before the rock touched down. Now it was the man who braced himself up against the wall. The boy quietly shuffled to his side. Bumblebee tried to make quick work of the man's injuries but he was no Ratchet. Besides, the Calvary could be heard coming down the halls. He'd have to leave it up to them. Bumblebee bounded out of the passage into the main hall, transformed and booked it out of there.

* * *

By the time Marcus and his team made it, the chaos had died.

"What happened?!" He shouted to the people who had gathered in the area. One man was being put to a stretcher. Nick had suffered the most damage out of everyone. And to everyone's disbelief the reason was from a falling slab of concrete rather then just encountering two medium sized robots.  
The walls were rammed full of holes, scratches, scorches and scrapes as well as a number of areas that were splashed or dripped with vital robotic liquid.

"You are not going to believe this!" Nick replied as he laid there while men and women gathered to his side bandaging his more urgent bleeding.

"What?"

"A yellow Camaro showed up and saved our asses!"


	2. Chapter 2

Worst Case Scenario ~ Spark of Hope 'Alternate ending.' Ch 2

When writing this I didn't section it out for Chapters so the story cuts in odd places. I'll try updating asap avoid lost trains of thought.

Rated T for swearing.

*Edit, Music notes didn't go through, Up ticks didn't work right so when anythings speaks through the radio it will be noted by #

ARG!

________________________________________________________________

Safely secured back at the out post everyone had gathered to hear the story that Nick and his comrades had to tell. In absolute disbelief at times. Marcus in particular took great interest in the story.

"It just showed up?"

"Yeah, I have no effing idea where it came from. Down one of the passage ways that we normally don't use I guess."

Marcus shot yet another look at Sari. As he recalled, that was the location Sari told him she hid the car. She tried to act as if the look was nothing in hopes that it would prevent suspicion. It didn't work.

"Say you were in here a few days ago weren't you?" One of the men that Sari had met briefly drew a finger in her direction. "You asked if we saw anything weird didn't you."

She rolled her eyes around in a non-answer.

"Tell them Sari." Marcus responded. She sighed with frustration. She looked at Marcus. He was dead serious. So, she did. She told them everything. Even the juicy bits about being worried about treason. Which if it wasn't for Nick getting a helping hand she was sure these people wouldn't have even waited for a trial.

`  
"Show me." The leader of the post stepped forward.

"Are you going to kill him?" Sari questioned, her eyes darted to Marcus.

"Don't know yet. But honestly, something like that could be a great asset to have on our side."

"You don't think it's some sort of trap?" Marcus piped up, of course being skeptical.

"Won't know til we check it out."

--------------------

It was agreed that a small band ventured out in attempt to make contact with the yellow Camaro. The black Jaguar was gone by the time they reached the location of where the battle took place. This caused nerves to immediately flare up.

"Maybe he took it back as a trophy?" Riley tried to calm everybody.

"Or they somehow became immune to the spark disruptors and this was all just a big act." Marcus commented.

"Looked like they were playing keeps to me."

"Yeah, and you also said the yellow bot just stood there as the wire was triggered." Oh Marcus, does your skepticism ever end?

"Yeh, but I think that was cuz it didn't know any better."

"But shouldn't that blast have killed him too?"

"Not always. And he wasn't in the direct blast, he got nailed by the after burn. I bet it tickled though."

Sari had returned from the passage that she had given Bumblebee as a hiding spot.

"He's not down there."

Group meeting then everyone ventured down into the vacant tunnel. There really wasn't anything telling that it had been inhabited by anything. Of course what were they expecting? Furniture?

"Well, should we put an infrared camera up here? If it comes back, we'll know it."

"Nah, I'd say he'd be too smart for that. I think we should split up. Start searchin for em."

"What about the Jaguar?"

"I guess we pray that it really is dead."

-

Sari, Riley and Marcus joined six other men for their search. The one who appointed himself leader made Sari nervous. He was one of those people who seemed to be on the side that Sari committed treason. He also had an air of arrogance to him. He seemed content to have everyone refer to him as Captain.

Being surrounded by men sometimes had it's disadvantages. She was good at what she does and had a lot of respect from Marcus and Riley. However, on the chance that the two boys get in groups with a good deal of men, Sari's opinion or thoughts are sometimes ignored. Either because their peers disregarded her abilities and Marc and Riley get so caught up they forget to listen to her or she just ended up being too quiet _to_ be heard. She wasn't sure which but it really ticked her off. They had wandered around aimlessly for a while. Doing the 'follow a wall' until you find something. It was leading them straight into dangerous territory and she decided she wasn't going to have any of that.

"You know what! This is stupid, you _men_ can go off and do your _men _things, don't get yourself too surrounded by metal heads, will ya!?" She shook her head in anger and stormed off. She had been trying to make a suggestion for a while now with _nobody_ bothering to listen to her.

"Sari?! Wha? Thu? Fuh!?" Riley called back completely taken off guard. She had her arms crossed, looked at him and turned her back to him snobbishly.

"Bah. Women." The Captain remarked humorlessly. Marcus broke company to go see what she wanted.

"Problem?"

"Oh, no not at all." She played off sarcastically. Marcus was used to this type of reaction and his standard procedure was to glare at her until she said what she wanted to.

Riley had joined and like usual he just stood back and gave Sari a 'I don't get you' look.

"Sari." Marc demanded evenly.

"What? I don't see what the deal is, why do you want to listen to me? You didn't wanna to listen to me for the past twenty minutes. Why now?"

"Okay. I'm listening. What?"

Long pause. Sari tossed Marc a playful 'sucka' look. "Okay, fine then." Big breath. "Why are we chasing after a wall?" No response just a crossed glare. So she made her question into a continuation. "When we had a perfectly good alien blood trail to follow?" Two stares followed her. "Pft. Men." She turned and walked back towards the location where she spotted the bright yellow dots of liquid. Marcus waved the rest of the men over.

-

"Oh common!" Riley protested. "I didn't even hear you."

"Whatever. You were ignoring me."

"No I wasn't!"

Marcus rolled his eyes. Sari was bored. She was starting a fight just because she was bored.

"Sari grow up." He demanded of her. She gave him a look. Smirked and then swatted Riley's shoulder. He returned volley. Marcus glared back at the two. Both repressed smiles as they gave each other looks. Marcus shook his head. "What are we? Five?"

"Wow, how the hell did we miss this?" There was a large puddle of yellow liquid that was pooled near a wall.

"It looks like it stopped to rest." One of the men reached up and lifted a drop of yellow goop with his finger. He rubbed it between his thumb and finger.

"It's cold."

"Coolant cold or stagnate cold?"

"Stagnate."

Glances went all around. They then proceeded to follow the trail. The farther they went on, the less the robot was dripping.

Eventually there was no dripping at all.

"His nanites must have kicked in."

"Damn. Well, I'm sure we're closer now than what we were before."

"You think anybody else followed the blood trail?"

"Doubt it, there was no trail when we first went looking for him. And Nick said he tore off in his car form. The leak was probably some place that didn't leak all over the ground until he turned back into a robot."

"Why don't you check."

Captain breathed heavily out of his nose in irritation before pulling out his radio. "Captain to Hodges, come in. Over." _Click._

Long pause, almost long enough to fill everyone with disturbed anticipation.

_#This is Hodges. Over. We found the Jaguar.#_

"Oh?" _Click._

_#Looks like it was salvaged for parts.# _Relief spread through the group.

"Camaro?" _Click._

_#Ya probably.#_

"Bleeding?" _Click._

_#From the Jaguar?#_

"No! The Camaro." He clicked off the radio. "From the Jagwar?" He mocked to his peers.

_#Nope, not that I can tell.#_

"Great, so that mean's we're on an old trail." Marcus sighed.

"Say isn't there an old parking garage around here somewhere?" Riley asked with a sudden spark of interest.

"Yeah why?"

"Uh, cuz it would be a great place for a robot to hide."

Captain nodded. "Yeah. But it's getting late and I don't know what's in store for us over there. We'll set up a camera and check it out tomorrow."

That evening was relatively uneventful outside of Sari getting a brunt of cold shoulders. Even Marcus seemed to be avoiding her. She glared at Captain. Captain had chatted with Marcus before he became so withdrawn. She wondered what he said to him.

Then she was very worried at what he had said to him. The next morning, Marcus declined to go with them. She herself wanted to decline after hearing that. And she would have, if it wasn't for the fact that the camera had triggered sometime overnight. No image was captured though.

They were getting closer now. Sari started to feel nervous at the thought of seeing it again. Bumblebee had been so nice to her and she hated the thought she might be forced to kill him. Riley caught her uneasy look. He set his hand on her shoulder for support.

"You hear that?" Captain shushed everyone. A few eyebrows furrowed as they tried to listen.

"Music?"

They quieted their steps and slowed their pace. Getting closer, the music turned off. Guns went to the front and survival instinct took over. Up ahead was the entrance to an old underground parking garage. Captain led the way.

"Looks too small for a robot to get through." He breathed looking at the double door sized opening.

"You'd be surprised."

They stealthed their way in. Most of the parking garage had collapsed on itself. Not that it made the building feel any smaller. Trickles of light danced in through the gaps between parts of the garage that still kept it's height and the broken layers. Otherwise, it was very dark inside.

"Shit." One of the men mouthed quietly. Others turned and asked him what with their eyes. He nodded to broken pieces of the black Jaguar. Captain walked over to examine it. It was the Jaguar's cannon arm. A small clanking noise echoed through the building. All guns swiveled forward.

"Here botty, botty, botty."

Pebbles of concrete rained down from above. The fighters scanned the ceiling. There were large holes that opened up to the floors above.

"If this robot is here, he could be anywhere."

"Well Captain? Where is he?"

Captain was trying to figure that out. The robots presence wasn't even showing up on his scanner. His eyes floated from the screen to all his warriors then to the blackness.

"Nothings here." He stared at the radar. Something didn't seem right. Quite thumps. Silence. The wind. More raining pebbles. Then a weak signal barely blipped on the scanner. "He's here!" He yelled and pointed to the direction the blip indicated, scanner dropped to it's sling, gun ready and armed. More silence.

"Come on robot! We know you're here. Let's just get this over with!"

No noise. One man thought he saw a blue orb hovering above him out of the corner of his eye, but when aimed his gun, nothing. Captain glared over at Sari. He turned and nodded to his men.

"We got your little friend here." Captain informed. His men carefully circled around Sari and Riley, but they were too busy looking for a robot to notice. "You know, she's in quite a bit of trouble because of you!"

"Hey!" Sari screamed as she was relieved of her weapon and thrown to her knees.

"Sari!" Riley tried to run to her rescue but he was apprehended as well.

There was a clatter of noise from the floor above them. Captain looked back at his men in a mixed look of encouragement and fear.

"It's a real shame! I hear she's one of the best. But now, now we have to kill her. You know why? Treason!" Captain reached into his jacket and pulled out a 9mm. He slid back the slide and walked over to Sari. He leveled the gun at her head. His focus was at the blackness as his finger switched off the safety.

"What are you doing!?" Sari shrieked.

"I'm sorry." He didn't sound sorry. "But we can't allow any traitors to live."

"Wait!" A voice called out from the shadows. "Put the gun away, she is not a traitor!"

Eyes darted to each other.

"You think we're stupid? She betrayed us!" Captain shouted.

"Definition of betray, to deliver or expose to an enemy by treachery or disloyalty. She has not aided any enemies and she is not disloyal to her people. She didn't commit any treason!"

"She gave you energon! I'm pretty sure that counts as aid."

No response. Only noises that came from indiscernible locations. Then the voice again, this time from behind them somewhere. "If you're worried about the energon then I'll pay you back. With interest."

More looks among the men. Captain shot an uneasy smile. "How about we take your life, I think that counts as pay back with interest." No response. "You sure? Because other wise she's going to be taking your place. Her little friend too. All because of you!"

There was louder clatter this time. This time they were able to pinpoint where it was coming from. One blue orb was spotted before it dodged back in the shadows before speaking. "Hold on! We can settle this diplomatically!"

"Diplomatically!?" Captain laughed heartily. "From a Decepticon!?"

"I am _not _a Decepticon!" The response was quick on that one.

"No?"

Rolling metal off in the distance.

"No."

"Then what are you? Looks, walks and sounds like a duck!"

"I am, an Autobot."

"A what?"

"An Autobot. Autonomous robots from the planet Cybertron." Bumblebee winced as he said those words. He could hear Optimus's voice saying them in his head.

"Autonowha?"

"Autonomous," a slight tone of frustration. "Autonomy, the quality or state of being self-governing; self-directing freedom and especially moral independence; a self-governing state."

The humans stood around a little dumbfounded.

"What? You quote that out of a dictionary?" One of the men quipped.

"Merriam-Webster."

"Sounds like a robot."

"Yeah. Right. So you came from the planet Cyborg-tron. How does that not make you one of them?" Captain continued.

"It doesn't." A man growled.

"I can explain."

"Nah, that's quite alright. I'm a little sick of this little game. I want to play my game now. How about this, I'm going to count to three

and if you don't show yourself by then, I'm going to start blasting heads. And I don't give a shit _what_ you have to say!"

"_One!"_

Silence.

"_Two!"_

Thumping noise from above.

"_Th-"_

"WAIT!" A crash came down behind them. "I'm right here!"

Everyone was nearly too shocked to turn and look.

Behind them was a yellow robot who stood at around fifteen feet high looking down at them with it's hands in the air.

"Holy shit! Now what?"

"I didn't think this would actually work!" One man breathed. Captain dumbly shook his head.

"Me neither. I guess he passes the test." Captain muttered.

"Test!" Sari shrieked. "What test!?"

"Let her up." Captain turned and eyed her. He then nodded in the direction of the robot. "Well, you're the one who wanted to keep him alive. You better go over there and play peace keeper." At those words her anger dropped out of her eyes and it was replaced by bewilderment. She looked back at Bumblebee then trotted over, still shaking from the stress of having a gun pulled to her head.

"Are you all right?" Bumblebee knelt down to look at her optic to eyes. She disengaged eye contact and wrapped her arms around her defensively.

"I'll be fine." She replied shortly. Bumblebee stood up and walked towards the others.

"That wasn't very nice." His optic narrowed at them. Guns raised to his chest in response.

"Okaaaay! Seriously! Now what, Captain?" The men either eyed Captain or stepped back in intimidation. They waited for him to give the signal to shoot the robot.

"Like I give a shit." Caption responded coldly to Bumblebee's reprimand. "You're not out of the woodwork yet! You'll either come back with us quietly, or next time I won't be aiming an empty gun at the girl's head." Sari yelled an obscenity at him. Bumblebee glared at him. He then shot a glance over at Sari. Then nodded.

_____________

"You what!?" A woman's bewildered voice carried over the crowd who were quietly listening to the communication panel.

#_Yeah, we're taking him alive, you better have a place to put him.#__  
_

_____________

They approached Outpost Nine. More armed warriors stood awaiting to see this robot. Hearts pounded, froze or dropped when they seen the lumbering creature being quietly lead by Captain's team.

"No way!" Marcus breathed. Sari moved out from behind Bumblebee and approached him. She stood face to face with him and a moment later charged an herculean fist across his face. His head whipped back by the blow. In his bowled over state, he reached over and touched the blood on his lip. He straightened himself out and avoided eye contact with her. She heaved air through flared nostrils. "I deserved that," he muttered to her quietly. Sari glared at him. _How dare he betray her trust like that._

"Easy Zena Princess Warrior." Captain walked up behind her. "He was doing you a favor. Otherwise we were going to turn you in. You should be thanking him for saving your life. And your little robot's."

"Bring it in here."

Bumblebee had to bend down to clear the door. He examined the room and what he saw made him nervous. Tools and equipment were scattered all over the place along with dismembered robot body parts. The lights went on and for a moment blinded his light absorbing scanners.

"Back in that corner!" Someone pointed. Bumblebee quietly obeyed. The man shot a raised eyebrow at the Captain. "He behave this well the whole time?"

"Like an angel."

-

Bumblebee was a conundrum. Nobody had ever expected to have a friendly robot. Or at least one perceived to be friendly. They had no holding cell to put him in and at this point nobody wanted to kill him either. For the first day Bumblebee was treated more like a sleeping lion at a zoo rather than a prisoner. Gawk and awe, and the occasional try and get his attention.

Several hours passed before anyone felt comfortable talking to him. Marcus took the initiative.

"I suppose you think we're pretty primitive huh." Marcus interrupted Bumblebee's keen study on the tools in the area.

"If you mean primitive as in young, then yes." Such a calm voice. Marcus nodded as he looked at the tools himself. "Actually, I think humans are pretty impressive." Most of the room looked over at Bumblebee in surprise.

"Yeah? What makes you say that?" Marcus continued now with more interest.

"The rate of what your species evolves or more aptly modifies you're environment for your survival." The next part Bumblebee was almost a little intimidated to say, "Dare I say, you're weaponry is a lot scarier now than it was two years ago." Flashes of teeth sporadically erupted from the crowd. That didn't ease Bumblebee's comfort level among them.

"You'd be surprised what humans can accomplish when we put our minds together. Plus it helped that we got our hands on this one robot. It was dead when we found it, but we were able to pull off a lot of information about the anatomy about you guys. Thing must have been some sort of robot doctor."

"Ratchet!?" Bee froze at the thought. He turned his head away hiding the pained look in his optics. Marcus waited for clarification but Bumblebee instead drifted into memories.

******************

Mikaela and Bumblebee had collected his legs and other pieces as they waited for Optimus and the others to return. Sadly only two came back. Ironhide and Ratchet with a handful of Lennox's soldiers. Unable to do anything else, they fled.

Now Ratchet had taken to his duty to repair Bumblebee, but the Ratchet he knew was not there. Instead of intensely focusing on every piece of detail, every solder and every circuit, Ratchet stared off into space. Bumblebee moved his parts when stiffness set in. Instead of the usual threats to put Bumblebee in stasis or disconnecting the leg completely so it couldn't move, Ratchet quietly snapped back to reality and tried to focus at the task at hand. Even then he was so unfocused.

"Ratchet?" Bumblebee's voice warbled. It drew a surprised look from his medic.

"So _now _you're voice decides to work." he snorted. Bumblebee shifted, he wanted to say something, wanted to hear what Ratchet had to say, what he was thinking in those deep thoughts. "Don't move," Ratchet stiffened, "and don't use you're voice capacitor, you'll only end up breaking it again." Bumblebee whined his servos.

It took two days for his legs to get stitched back together, but Ratchet could only do so much. The rest would have to repair cycle itself. Besides, Ratchet had other matters at hand.

"What do we do now?" Ironhide stared waiting for a response. With both the leader and the second in command gone Ratchet was now in charge.

"We wait."

"The longer we wait the stronger Megatron gets!" Ironhide wasn't thrilled with the new command. Putting the most non-combative in charge at a time of war, as much as he respected Optimus's wishes he wasn't about to let this one go without question.

"Ironhide, there are only three of us now, and Bumblebee is nothing more than a hazard until his mobility is restored. There is no way we can conceivably make an effective stand against Megatron and the other Decepticons." Ratchet wasn't thrilled with his options either.

Ironhide growled. "We wouldn't be able to do that with the three of us anyways. Not unless we took Megatron by surprise."

"And how do you propose we do that? Megatron would have his forces on us before we'd even get close!"

"So what? We just wait. Wait for them to come to us?"

"If it comes to that."

That threw Ironhide into a frenzy. He shifted the language to Cybertonian. An argument ensued about always hiding, always running. Never making the charge. Same old, same old, tactics that didn't work on Cybertron so why would they work on earth. Ratchet countered with informing Ironhide that the only success they would have with his plan is suicide. The humans looked on in unease. They weren't entirely sure what to think of their new towering allies, except that they just lost Mission City and probably earth and they ran away with their tails between their legs. And now they hovered over them, throwing a fit of static and clicking in the air.

"Enough!" Bumblebee shouted at them returning the conversation back to English. Both Ironhide and Ratchet turned in surprise. "Arguing about this isn't going to do anything for us. We need a plan and we need to consult our allies." Bumblebee then went into a hacking fit over the static washing up over his processor. Neither Ironhide nor Ratchet had ever heard Bumblebee speak before, not since they first met him and he was so very inexperienced to war. To hear his advise now was a bit, refreshing. Ironhide stepped back to address the humans.

"Well, if we are going to be doing anything. We are going to need more fire power."

Ratchet forced Bumblebee's head up so he could examine the vocal mechanism. He then reprimanded the yellow bot for speaking with such fragile circuitry.

"Yeah, well, we can't do anything until we can get a message out. And these radios aren't going to cut it." Lennox replied.

At that Bumblebee activated news radios that were still able to project themselves over the air waves. The information that blurted out was all the destruction Megatron was rampaging across the world. He tried to blurb it out as much as possible simply trying to get his point across.

"If we used that, we would broadcast our plan openly to Megatron." Ratchet objected matter of factly.

Bumblebee stitched a message across the radio,

_# All satellite and cellphone towers are down-# # -nkfully the radio towers are still #__ #__ that's all we got #_

"Epps, how far away from the nearest Military base are we?"

"We could return to Nellis Air Force, about eight hours from here. Few others to the east, same time frame."

_# The robotic creatures have sent out a strike force and are apparently targeting military complexes. __#_

"Could you possibly give us some good news for once?" Lennox snapped.

Bee could only whine. Ratchet paced away trying to fight through his frustration for a clear thought.

"It might be worth a-" Ratchet had a thought but he was interrupted. A helicopter's blades ticked overhead.

"Blackout!" Ratchet yelled. Everyone scrambled. Everyone that could. Large bullet sprays ripped through the buildings and loud explosions outside.

"I thought we killed that thing!" Lennox screamed grabbing his weapon. Deja vu.

"Not well enough, apparently." Ironhide sneered. Ratchet and Ironhide ran out through the front garage to head off the chopper. They were followed by Lennox and his men. Bumblebee whirred his servos at Mikaela motioning her to go hide. He then carefully picked himself up on to his weak legs and gimped over to the door. Offering as much cover fire as possible but the others managed to take the fight out of his range. Explosions ceased with the passing hours. Ironhide returned along with even less humans. Lennox and Epps were still hanging in there. Bumblebee's optics went wide with questions at Ironhide. Ironhide glanced and dodged his sight back.

"He's gone." To answer Bee's question. The then walked a few paces and crashed his arm through a brick wall in frustration.

"We took out the helicopter for good, but that damn jet came up behind us!" Lennox stopped as he saw the robot rip through a wall.

Ironhide sulked in thought for a moment.

"Bumblebee? Can you transform?" Ironhide asked with hostility.

"No, Ratchet had disabled-"

"Then override it! We are not going to sit around and wait for them to pick us off!"

With Bumblebee forced to make pit stops every few hundred miles due to his injuries it was amazing they weren't picked off. They made their way to various military bases to try and rally up aid. Most of the times they were met with hostility. Other times despair as they discovered the Decepticons made short work of those bases. Mikaela suggested going back to Sector Seven. Bumblebee tried to fight the idea of going back there, but in the end all other options were depleted. As they headed towards that way, Starscream and Barricade charged after them. Ironhide stayed back to be a distraction while Bumblebee went ahead with Epps and Mikaela to the Hoover Dam. He never saw Ironhide or Lennox ever again.

Sector Seven. His thoughts returned to Ratchet's memories used to create weapons for destruction. It went against everything he stood for and he bet that Sector Seven had everything to do with it.

Bumblebee cocked his head up to stare at a blinding light wishing that some how it would completely erase his memory banks.

"What's he doing?" Riley walked up to Marcus.

"Donno, he's been that way for hours. Thinking probably."

"What do you think he's thinking about?"

"Old friends." Bumblebee answered. He had lost all of his. He wasn't about to give up on Sam though. Not until he knew for certain. He already assumed he was dead once, and the horror of learning he had been alone with Megatron all that time shook him to his core. Bumblebee didn't want to deal with finding Sam's body, but he needed to know. And he was denying the most likely answer. Megatron either killed Sam or Sam died. If that was the case, then his body would still be back at Megatron's. He cringed.

_Tonight. He'd go tonight._


	3. Chapter 3

Time passed and most of the people cleared out of the area. There should have been guards but most were too stunned to share a room with a giant robot. They settled out in the halls somewhere. That was going to be a problem. He didn't want to hurt any of them, but he was now sure they could most certainly hurt him if they wanted to.

"Hey," a soft friendly voice pulled him out of a hard stare at a wall. Bumblebee looked down at Sari and nodded. "What are you doing to your arm?" A confused look crossed over his face, he glanced down and realized that he had been picking at it. His cannon components were buried deep with in a gnarl of mangled metal. He shifted it behind him away from her sight. Before he could respond. "It's broken? You," pause, "broken elsewhere?"

# _You name it, I got it! _# His radio blared out an old commercial. This caught a few strange looks. Bumblebee smiled and shook his head at how that once was his only form of spirited communication in the past. He lifted his arm and looked at it.

"Let me see that." Sari demanded and walked up to Bumblebee. She cautioned the idea of stepping on him to get a better look at the arm, but she didn't have to. Bumblebee set his arm down so she could see it. She examined it intently, running her fingers over a mound of strangely distorted metal. "Maybe I can fix it."

"What?! Sari, no." Marcus got off his chair and headed her way while he protested. Putting it nicely, Sari told him to get lost. Marcus tried to retaliate calmly but Sari was quick to cut him off.

"Hey, if you don't like it, why don't you go tell your pal Captain." Her tone drenched with hostility. Marcus growled but backed off. Trust was broken, this was to be expected.

"Sari, I don't think that's a good idea." Sari was up and already busy pulling out tools. "Despite my alternate appearance, I'm not actually a car!"

"That's good. Because I don't know how to fix cars."

Bumblebee watched her with worry in his optics. His optics darted to Marcus then to the touch he could feel rasping in a groove under his armor.

"Look, I appreciate what you are doing, but-"

"Relax, I won't break you." She ignored Bee's farther protest, instead begun to point out to Riley the damage. "See right here. This vessel right here is twisted and his repair nanos can't get through, so instead it just starts building up along here. The screw driver in her hand dragged along a large mass of jagged metal." Bumblebee halted his protests for a moment to study what she was looking at. He had no idea if what she said had an ounce of truth to it or not but it at least sounded reasonable considering that Megatron had only damaged it once, and it was permanent. Same with his voice. There were definitely things about robot anatomy that Bumblebee had no idea about. Megatron and Ratchet however, was a different story. Megatron knew for taking out vital systems quickly in war, and Ratchet to repair vital systems quickly. He wondered for a moment how they would have fared against each other.

"Okay, hold that right there, I'm going to weld this piece off and-"

"Weld!?" Bumblebee gaped. He looked at the primitive tool in Sari's hand, he shook his head and began to fight back. Riley and Sari both grabbed his arm to stop it from moving, as if that would actually do something.

"Sari! You're going to get somebody hurt or killed!" Marcus bellowed at her. This stopped Bumblebee cold, he was on the verge of ripping his arm away from them. In doing so he would have probably ripped out fingers. Bumblebee shot another look at Marcus in plea. Then screeched as an unexpected blast of white hot heat drove through his arm. He looked back to see the bright glow penetrate his metal and he resisted heavily the instinct to withdraw from the pain.

"Almost," Sari dragged the hot beam across the thick mass. Riley's grip released. For a second, Sari stopped the beam and lifted up her mask for a better view. In that second, Bumblebee tore his arm away from them. "Hey!" She yelled at him. "I'm not finished yet!" She stood up and motioned _nay _demanded the robot return at once.

Bumblebee was already clear across the room from her with his arm cradled by his other hand. He looked down at his new injury. A fresh line of liquid metal. It didn't look that promising. He then found the large mass that Sari had managed to cut away and pulled it out. It was surprisingly large. Heat emanating from it pricked his fingers. He dropped it without much thought and started poking at he metal that still felt excruciatingly hot.

"Don't pick at it!" Sari growled. Bumblebee looked up in protest.

"Yes Ratchet." He muttered sarcastically. Then he tried waving cool air at his cut.

"Now come here so I can finish!"

"No. It's fine."

"Bumblebee."

"Sari! Let me put this in perspective for you. You are trying to do very delicate surgery, with a BUTCHER'S KNIFE!"

"Sari!" Riley grabbed her arm. She shot him a annoyed look. "I think," he looked up at Bumblebee with a furrow in his brow, "I think that hurts him." Her eyes softened and turned to focus on the yellow robot. Indeed he was cradling his arm, wanting to poke out the pain but avoiding it knowing that it would only make it worse.

"That hurts you?" Marcus wanted to clarify. Bumblebee vented air in frustration. He turned his backs to the humans a bit disenfranchised with their ignorance. Then he hit his head on a damn ceiling lamp.

"Bumblebee? I'm sorry!" Sari ran to Bee's side. Bumblebee's optics narrowed and he turned his head away from her direction. "I'm so sorry," she whispered quietly. "I was only trying to help. Bumblebee! I'm sorry!" She reached over and touched the armor on his leg. A relatively pathetic attempt at comfort. He looked down at her in annoyance and saw that she was mostly doing that to console herself. He rolled his head back in utter defeat. There was just no winning with these humans. Besides, he couldn't be _that _mad at them. The only thing they really knew about his kind was that most of them are out to kill theirs. And she was right, she was only trying to help him. "Bumblebee." Sari whimpered.

_How do they always make me feel like the bad guy!? _

"It's okay, Sari!" He combated her sad tone with an uplifting one. She gave him a look that it wasn't. "No harm was done. I just wasn't expecting it. Besides, it really wasn't any worse than what Ratchet has done in the past. Ratchet, our medic." She looked at him, obviously not believing him. "No, really. Having to go to Ratchet was like a punishment in itself." Bumblebee knelt down. "He was very good at finding the most uncomfortable sensor to jab his tools into, leave it in there until it was unbearable, and then chastise you when you protested." Thought pause," He also liked to spring surprise attack surgeries." Bumblebee wrapped his hand around his neck at the thought. "I think it was because no one really wanted to face him for repair unless it was absolutely necessary. So it would be completely unexpected. I would be standing there, then before I even have a chance to realize it, he'd hit me with his damn laser scalpel." Bumblebee drifted back to various different incidents where Ratchet did that. He couldn't believe he would look back so warmly at those memories. His voice box gurgled out a soft chuckle.

"That sounds, kind of funny." Riley remarked.

"Well it wasn't at the time!" Bumblebee protested but he then smiled. He was glad that he was able to push out the negativity in his memories in light of remembering his old friends for who they were.

"Bumblebee, I never meant to hurt you." Sari bit her lip.

"Not your fault. Wouldn't have been an issue if it wasn't broke in the first place." He picked his arm up and looked at it again. As far as he could tell, he might be able to get the mechanisms to transform again. All systems were online, he just couldn't put it together. Especially now on the account that it was too sore.

"How did it break?"

Optics darted up, the glow on the functional ocular lens dimmed so much it was almost as black as the nonfunctional. "Megatron." His voice was flat. Enough said, and he didn't want to go into details. The three nodded numbly.

"Well, it's getting late. I think I've had enough excitement for one day. I'm turning in for the night." Marcus stretched out. He eyed Sari and Riley to do the same, but he didn't expect either one to follow his command.

"Yeah, same here. See you tomorrow Mr. Bumblebee?"

"Good night Sari." Bumblebee nodded her to leave. He couldn't promise her he'd see her ever again however.

-

He let a couple hours pass then stood up and headed out to the hall. As he feared, they were keeping guard in the hall. He bent down to avoid the ceiling and approached them quietly but not so quiet to sound like he was sneaking.

Eyes widened and bodies stiffened as he approached. Bumblebee knelt down to be closer to them.

"Excuse me, but am I a prisoner here?" Bumblebee focused on one man who had a very thin frame. His body tightened as he tried to control his ever increasing breathing. Getting no answer, "Would you mind if I stepped out for some air?" He wasn't entirely sure if humans knew that he could do just fine without it but he figured he'd give it a shot. The first man was too frightened to respond, Bumblebee looked at the others.

"I'm sure as hell ain't gonna try'en stop ya." One of them responded with a very shaky voice. Bumblebee swiveled his head towards the speaker and nodded his head.

"Thank you."

Well that went better than he could have hoped for.

_________________________________________________________

Aptly fitting to his name, Bumblebee made a beeline to Megatron's tower. It was surprisingly quiet, eerily quiet. He did a quick examination on his canon arm. It actually looked better now but still not well enough to use as a weapon. His circuits fizzled with unease. He wasn't a very strong range fighter nor was he the strongest melee fighter. His best circumstances was when he mixed it up and he couldn't do that. Not that it really mattered, if he ended up facing Megatron head to head, he was barely more effective than a human throwing a rock.

He pushed back his uncertainty and began scaling the wall. He would check the cage first. If he loitered around the ground for too long it might raise suspicions before he got up to Megatron's pavilion. He triple checked all of his scanners. He had a hard time fathoming that Megatron and most of his goonies had cleared out. He figured Megatron must be at his other favored spot.

The cube was still here, still guarded be a couple dozen cybertron Decepticons. Megatron seemed to have dropped his guard considerably once Starscream was out of the picture. He humored the idea of making a charge. Then cursed at the realization that some of the fighters were almost as good as Megatron and he didn't have his weapons online plus he would be direly outnumbered. He slipped to the floor and snuck behind Megatron's metal throne. The cage wasn't swinging in the breeze like it should be. He looked over the throne carefully, near the walls, he slipped out and scanned the open ground. No cage in site. Cybertonian voices drifted in the air causing Bumblebee to flank a pillar to hide. He reaccessed to make sure his nullifier was still up and operational. Sari had been so helpful to him. She has no idea. A Decepticon stepped out and surveyed the throne area.

"Hm. I thought I heard Megatron return. Must have been those stupid birds." At that the Decepticon disappeared. Bumblebee relaxed his joints. Out of the corner of his optic something metal glinted. _It was the cage!_ Excitement for finding it. Horror for finding it. Bumblebee tensed and quietly slipped down to the ground level to examine it. First thing that hit him. It smelled like Sam. It smelled powerfully like Sam. He knew that humans didn't particularly enjoy their own scent. He however, relished it because this was probably going to be his last memory of him. He rolled the cage carefully to examined the contents. What little provisions Megatron had given him, waste but no Sam. His interest diverted to some of the damage Megatron left on the cage.

His optics narrowed. It was big enough for Sam to fit through. He moved the cage back to make sure Sam's body wasn't outside the cage. An uneasy thought hit him. What if he fell? Bumblebee surveyed the ground for any signs of Sam. Blood, body fluid, a body. He continued to survey and lingered for hours, not satisfied with coming up empty again. Anything, but please not nothing! Eventually he relinquished his task, he didn't want to be standing around when Megatron returned. Bumblebee retreated, frustrated that he was once again set back to having no idea where his friend was.

He returned back to the human tunnels. This was driving him crazy. Maybe Sari had a way of finding out if anyone made it into human settlements. It was either that, which seemed unlikely because even the toaster oven-for-brains would attack anything organic on site, _or_ Megatron took Sam with him, which again seemed very unlikely. Of course Bumblebee couldn't say for certain what Megatron would do. Turning from Protector of Cybertron to Destroyer of Cybertron, at the time, seemed very out of character. When Bumblebee was captured for questioning just minutes prior to the All Spark getting launched into space, Megatron didn't entertain the idea of torture for pleasure, so keeping Sam and Bumblebee as tortured implements for his amusement seemed out of character. Hell, he didn't know really _anything_ about Megatron except how ruthless he was. His circuits combed through the memory bank of what he does know about Megatron.

Megatron's other favored spot for watching over his landscape is just a short distance from a mass human burial site. He knew that because Megatron loved putting him to work piling bodies down the graves. Bumblebee shuttered. Such horrible memories. Sickly faces. Decrepit bodies. Some where still breathing and crying. His spark seized. Sapped bodies still writhing in pain and he was supposed to just throw them away. He fought hard against his memory banks to suppress the horrible memories. Then his memories shifted to thoughts. What if Megatron just got sick of his game and simply tossed Sam away? Sam's body down with all those other lifeless husks! Bumblebee had to completely disengage his thoughts. They were causing him so much fret that he could feel his parts over heating. In human terms, he was getting physically sick at the thought.

"Well, well, well." Bumblebee startled at the voice. "If it isn't NBE 2."

"Simmons?" Bumblebee twirled to face the man. He was so wrapped up in fighting his thoughts he didn't even realize the humans had advanced on him. Most of the people seemed surprised that Bumblebee recognized the man enough to know a name.

Simmons however, "I'm surprised you remembered me!" He wasn't intimidated nor the least bit frightened of Bumblebee. In fact he was feeling particularly bull headed. Bumblebee watched him, not sure what to make of the encounter. "So, what did NBE 1 have to say?"

"What?"

"Megatron! You gave it a visit last night did you not?" Simmons snapped smugly, feeling superior for catching NBE 2 in a trap. Bumblebee only stared back. Somehow Simmons already knew the answer of Bee's whereabouts. "Yeah," Simmons scratched at his face, "you, uh got a bug on you." Bumblebee tried processing what Simmons meant by that. His gesture was similar to a human's suggesting something was improper with appearance. Meaning, something was on him.

"A bug?" Processing definitions of 'bug'. One fit with Simmons' gesture. Bumblebee stepped back in unease. He didn't outright appear to look for it, but he started running scanners on himself.

Simmons balked out a sharp laugh. "You didn't honestly think I'd let you run around freely without keeping an eye on you, did you?" The amused expression snapped away instantly. It was replaced by a sinister glare, "I know what you've been up to. I know that you spent the last two years hanging out with Megatron!" He practically screamed out the last bit of his sentence. He circled Bumblebee.

Bumblebee was taken aback. Panic crept up his processor not because he did anything wrong, but how the humans would precieve that he did. And he had been spyed upon! He couldn't imagine the humans being able to do or actually see what he went through, but the idea that someone was watching him as he lived through his hell.

"Well!?" Simmons sqawked at him, in demand that Bumblebee reply. Sensors were tense picking up every scurring rat, every rasp of a cricket wing, every heart beat surrounding him. His scan came back positive for a foreign electronic element placed near his spark.

"You were spying on me?" Bumblebee rasped. He was dumbfounded. Of all the things he should be doing or saying right now, he couldn't get over his last two years under Megatron, being _watched_! Bumblebee tried stepping back, Simmons made sure no distance was made as he circled around the towering giant. Simmons begun tapping a black cane to his side.

"Surprised? So were we when we let you out only to have Megatron get a hold of the cube." Simmons teeth glared out a snear. "I thought you were supposed to protect it!"

"I tried!"

"Tried!? Don't give me this _tried _crap!"

Bumblebee's optics narrowed. "You wanted to just stand around and wait for Megatron to walk into the room!" Simmons was direly protesting that all they way until Bumblebee touched the cube. "If we made a stand the way _you _suggested we might as well just handed-"

"In case you didn't notice, Megatron has the cube! And as far as I know, you handed it to him!"

Bumblebee whirred and ticked at the accusation. His circuits getting worked up. They already felt so hot.

"I lost my friends trying to defend that cube!" Since when did he reduce the All Spark to 'cube'?

"Well isn't that just peachy. You lost your friends." Sarcastic sincerity. Simmons then screamed, "I lost everybody! I lost my world because of you!"

"I lost two worlds!" Bumblebee raged. His optic blared white and he took a temendous step towards Simmons and edged his face into Simmons' "And it was because of Megatron!" His voicebox cracked at the strength Bumblebee was projecting out.

"And yet you lived with the monster!"

That sent Bumblebee aback. His circuits were red hot. They were overheating and Bumblebee couldn't think straight because of it. He couldn't deny that. He did, for almost two years. He was forced to grovel at Megatron's feet. All in hopes that Sam would- His thought shattered, Sam would what? See another grueling day without hope? Bumblebee did it for selfish reasons, he had lost everything else, he couldn't loose his last fragment of what he was fighting for. _It would break him to be with out it._ But these humans would never understand that. _ It was an arranged deal._ Bumblebee couldn't mutter out the words. Bumblebee stepped back again. His optics darted. His gears tore at each other, he felt like he was breaking inside. "There, was," sensors burning so hot, "an arrangement." Bumblebee's body shifted uneasily. Gears meshing at each other, yellow coolant couldn't keep up, his spark felt like it would burst. Burning so hot.

"An arrangement." Simmons muttered nodding. He was content, he got NBE 2 right where he wanted him. "What did you tell him? What does he know about the weapon!?"

"Weapon?"

"Don't play stupid with me!" Simmons blasted out into a yell. Bumblebee shook his head.

"I don't know anything about a weapon! And I didn't go to talk to Megatron!" Before Simmons could rage at Bumblebee, Bumblebee raged first. "If you have a weapon to take out Megatron then why didn't you use it? Why didn't you?" His optic blighted the other one glowed blue. "Speaking of you and Megatron, how many years have _you _had him?" Bumblebee stepped closer to Simmons. "How many years did you and your Sector Seven have Megatron on ice. You could have figured out how to kill him then and there. But you didn't. Why? Your little science project was too important over the protection of your planet? You had him for years! How long Simmons? How long were you personally assigned to him? And you only thought of creating a weapon to use on him _now_?" So hot now. White hot. Steam could have been rolling off his protoform but he was too busy facing down a pompous ass to verify.

Simmon's glared back in hate. The argument was spinning back towards him now, making him look to be the bad guy. He wasn't going to have any of that. Simmons pulled his cane up, it was actually a prod. A robot prod.

"Don't you dare try and pin this on me." He spoke with a tightly controlled but angry voice. He then swatted Bumblebee with the prod. At conception Bumblebee's senses went on fritz. Before he could grasp what happened he realized he had fallen over.

No, he was standing. Sort of. He was at an angle. He moved his arm. It didn't move. He could hear metal rattling across metal.

"Doesn't this just bring back memories!" Simmons still held a bitter angry tounge but he was amused. Bumblebee forced his senses back online, begrudgingly as they went. The first thing he was able to put into focus was that damn half cocked evil smile on Simmons' face. Bumblebee fought his arms free, this time realized they were locked down in chains.

"What is this?" Bumblebee demanded.

"We're going to pick this up right were we left off. Non-biology 101." He turned to his following, "Today's lesson plan, we're going to be doing some dissection!" He played with the syllables in the word dissection. Bumblebee jerked back. _Not that again!_ And his body still felt like it was overheating.

_Burning._

"So what? You're going to take me apart?" Bee grated.

"Damn straight. Paybacks a bitch, eh? The way that you terminators run everything, killing everything, everyone, forcing them into excruciatingly painful ways of dieing! Oh, this is going to be fun." Something told Bumblebee this was going to be worse than than the previous experiments.

"I'm not the ones who do that!" Bee screeched. Human outright ignored him. Did he say it in English? He was sure he had. Did he say it in Cybertronian? Did he say it to himself? Everything was so hot, he still couldn't focus.

"Like we're going to believe that crap line. You may not be personally responsible but you are going to be held accountable."

He didn't say it to himself. Didn't say it in Cybertonian. Circuits running too hot, over used. Over loaded. Running too fast. He didn't wait for human response. Held accountable? No, not for them. Not the Decepticons. NOT MEGATRON! He shouldn't be trapped in here. Not like this! Everything he suffered through. Everything he lost. He expected to suffer under the hands of Megatron but not this. Not the people he tried so very hard to defend. No, the first time he was captured, it was his duty to die for them. But not now. He had no interest in them. Sam was the only one that cared. Not these bastards. A scary metallic scream escaped his processors as he tried to fight the chains. A flint of fear crossed over Simmons but he coolly held it at bay.

"Get the machine!" Simmons looked over his shoulder and ordered.

The chains were stronger than the metal chains human's normally use. Bumblebee accessed their strength. His optic light widened when he realized the type of metal.

"Yeah, that's right! You recognize that metal don't you." Simmons toyed. "Super dense. In it's purest form, liquid! That's how you can make your transformation identities. You scan then you turn your metal into liquid and poof! Perfect form fitting Camaro. Know what's even better, we now know how to extract and use it for our own purposes. And I tell you, pulling it off of your body, it won't be pretty. I've seen the most stoic of Decepticons break under the power of this baby!" A machine was rolled by Simmons' side and he patted it with pride. "We have to do it while your alive, otherwise it hardens up. Oh, and you're body will make more, so we get to do it over and over and over. All in all, I'd say it's fitting for all the trouble you caused us."

The machine was rolled up to Bumblebee's side. Pure panic rolled over Bumblebee. He had first hand experience how terrifying human experiments could be and this, this is the equivalent to having bones ripped out of a human while they are alive and conscious. He whimpered and fought against the chains. He had the strength, he could break them, but they held him so well at his joints. His strength did nothing if he couldn't use it. One chain, if he could just break it somewhere.

_Whiiiiiirrr_ It sounded like a power drill. Bumblebee froze. He turned back to see the drill starting, heading right for his chest. Frantically he fought with the chains. He looked over the crowd. Somebody! Anybody! Sari and her friends were there. She wasn't on his side, non of them were. Horror, desperation, hopelessness crossed over him. He couldn't take this! He screeched! The drill started boring away at his chest plating. Sudden pain, but the fear was even worse. He turned and to his horror saw it inching towards his spark. Grinding. The spinning drill scrapping apart his metal centimeters at a time. Anything! Everything for a weapon! His cannon. He unleashed his cannon. It snapped horribly in pain but it formed. To his exhilaration it formed and it snapped the chain as it did. He leapt away. Humans screamed and yelled as he did. He gashed himself badly on the machine, but he was free from it now! He didn't even think about fighting the humans now, he just wanted to get out of there as fast as he could. He barreled towards the door, leapt through it. Literally crashing through it. Ran down the hall. New blue gray lines marked his path. He launched himself from the walls and jumped over them, before he touched the ground he had converted to his car form and with every ounce of power spun the tires for speed.

"After him!" Someone screamed behind him. _Just let me be!_ But they didn't. He heard engines roar up behind him. Not by their hands! If he was going to die this horrible fate, then it was only proper to be at the hands of Megatron. Another thought crossed his spark, Sam! He has to get Megatron to tell him what he did with Sam. He has to! It was the only peace of mind he had left anymore.

He broke out of the underground tunnels. His vehicle form colliding through concrete and broken surfaces with little regard to what damage they could cause him. His sensors picked up motion behind him. The eight human's were riding on motorcycles. _Well they wanted to persue him for having contact with Megatron, if they follow him, let them sort out the results. _He didn't care if Sari was among them. Bumblebee banked a turn. A few miles later and just as he assumed, Megatron stood ahead of him. The bikes which had done well to keep up suddenly stopped their persuit. Bumblebee growled his engine. He transformed before he even slid to a halt. He screamed out Megatron's name until his vocal processor washed over with static.

Megatron took a cursory glance at the Autobot. His fangs flinched up to an amused smile.

"Well, if it isn't the little insect. The little _bee_." Megatron jumped down to greet the little pest.

"Damnit Megatron! Where is Sam!?" Megatron could only laugh heartily at Bumblebee's demand.

"You're little human?" More laughter. "He's gone. The very first chance he got." His blazing red optics settled on the cringing but defiant little robot. The face of an insect. "Tell me Autobot. Every second of every day you forced yourself to grovel at my feet, how does it feel to know that he fled with absolute disregard for you?" Megatron was slowly walked circles around Bumblebee.

"Don't fuck with me, Megatron!" Bee snapped. Megatron was finding no end to this amusement.

"What need have I of lies?" He pondered knowing full well that changing one word in that sentance would bring back a flood of memories to Bumblebee. The whole reason why Megatron relished this moment. "Besides, the truth is far more telling as it is!" His voice twisting the words in sinister sweetness. Bumblebee was consumed by rage. He roared and leapt up at Megatron. With barely a break in his step Megatron had Bumblebee flat on his back.

"You weak, pathetic Autobot!" Megatron shifted his weight onto Bumblebee to pin him. His teeth like daggers floating inches above Bumblee's face. "Which reminds me, last time you defied me, I made sure you were a mute." Megatron dragged his claw along Bumblebee's throat. His fingers interlocked around it and he pulled Bumblebee's face even close to his. "How very generous of the All Spark to restore it to you," A vicious smile flashed over his maw, optics narrowing but glowing even brighter, "just so I can hear you scream." Fear welled up. Bumblebee clawed at the dirt. He tried to break away. With a smooth flick of Megatron's fingers slid open Bumblebee's spark cavity. Bumblebee struggled pathetically, whimpering as he did. Megatron reached down with a claw and traced around the spark. His claw slowly driving into his core. Slow scraping. Metal slowly peeling away from Megatron's claw, excruciatingly painful. Bumblebee focused everything to stifle a scream. His hands wrenching at the ground. Megatron was delighted with the challenge. He drove his claw down closer to the spark, the glow fluttered against his metallic digits. Again he traced the core with his claw. This time it was too much for Bumblebee to hold. He shrieked out in agony. Other Decepticons at Megatron's back stared at the spectacle. Fangs and optics glowed like hungry scavengers at a chance of a meal. They stayed at bay, Alpha Omega needed his fill first. And he was enjoying every last nano-klick of it. Only when Bumblebee's energy and his voice crackled to silence did Megatron stop and remove his force. Bumblebee writhed in pain but used his last of his strength to pull himself to his side.

"Go on then," Bumblebee weakly rasped, "finish it! For the first time since this encounter the smile wiped away from Megatron's face.

"No," Megatron bellowed. He picked Bumblebee up. He edged Bumblebee's face inches from his. "You are pathetic. You are unworthy of death." A growl. "No, Autobot, you will not get your death until I have destroyed every last living creature on this planet. Every last pathetic Autobot who has taken to hiding. Everything _you _fought for, I will destroy! Now go." At that he tossed Bumblebee back to where the humans had halted their vehicles. "Tend to your pathetic fleshlings." Bumblebee crashed and whimpered as his body shook.

"Enjoy them while you can. Soon enough, I will destroy them as well." The humans couldn't help but stare at the sight. Before Megatron turned to leave he had one more thing to say to Bumblebee. "Give my regards to Optimus." His voice growled with disdain. He charged his pulse cannon and drove it into the ground causing a shockwave. The shockwave caused the ground to collapse under Bumblebee. He then mounted into a jet and sped off towards the stars. Laughing as he went. The other Decepticons followed suit. And when the dust settled, Bumblebee now saw why Megatron viewed this spot to be a favorite. It wasn't just a mass burial site for humans, but just yards ahead of him, still partially covered by mounds of dirt, lay Optimus's shell. Megatron must have just waited for this day so he could break down Bumblebee even more.

He screamed again. This time in frustration and grief. Or at least, he tried to. His voice cut out halfway through. Slowly he rolled himself up onto his knees. He was still doubled over and his joints and sensors shook visibly. He reached up with his hand and held it at his spark. So much pain and so much grief coursed through it. Cybertronian emotions mixed in with his human expressive protocols. He wanted to scream but his vocal processors couldn't obey. He wanted to wail and dump out all his emotions that were destroying him. He couldn't do that either, it wouldn't work anyways. This was just another crushing defeat to categorize away, to put into a cache system with every painful memory, lost friends, despair that he had filling his memory banks since Megatron started this war. _Why?_ He understood why Optimus's death. He understood why he spent so many years in horror and grief. He understood why so many spark mates gave their lives. What he didn't understand was _why. _

Why did Megatron start this war?

Why does the universe favor Megatron's destruction. The universe was unfeeling, that was understandable, but unrelentingly brutal?!

He had these questions before. They came up time and time again. This time however, there was no one to listen to him. No one to give him answers. Tones of grief erupted from his vocal range. After so many years of being mute, then to being so stoic he finally let his voice cry.

*****************

The Cybertronian language was musical, but entirely different from the music that presented itself in the human language. In human language, every note, pitch and speed shift could completely turn the sentence completely at odds with what the words said. In Cybertronian, each shift in tone was in itself a word and Bumblebee had been without words for so long. At this time and place, Bumblebee couldn't even fathom the music of the organic language. And with Megatron having destroyed his ability to convey his music he destroyed Bumblebee's ability to convey his emotions. Bumblebee's only methods of communication now, was the lack luster communication protocol of syntax through communication uplinks. This method of communication was to say the least, the most anti-personal form of communication to their race. The military had used them profusely. But then again, most military went Decepticon and a lot of them prided themselves on being emotionless.

Bumblebee wasn't emotionless. In fact he was brimming with so much frustrated and upset emotion that he couldn't help but spam Optimus with syntax. So much and so fast Optimus's processors could hardly keep up. For now all he could do was painfully watch his small friend shake with frustration as he continued to drop blocks upon blocks of syntax on him. Optimus carefully sifted through the lines of code. Most were syntax errors. Words of emotion that the protocol could not translate. One piece of code was riddled throughout Bumblebee's excessive wall,

00563*290*032 Query Patience

Then there was a wall of identification codes of Autobot serial numbers. Bumblebee couldn't even call them by their names. Only by their serial numbers. At the end of these codes:

Decommissioned / Terminated 00563*290*032 Query Patience

Bumblebee reached the end of his rope. It felt like he was building up a wall just so he could run into it. He dropped to his knees in defeat. No whine or twirl came from his voicebox or servos. He had yet to learn of those sounds as a form of communication.

Optimus knelt down and placed his hand on Bumblebee's shoulder. Bumblebee looked up with fret. Optimus focused his optics in grief. All that work and frustration just to ask one simple emotional question.

_"Optimus, everything that we've lost, how can you still continue to be so optimistic?"_

"Bumblebee," his earth designation had yet to exist, Optimus used his friend's real name. "I know this is especially difficult for you. You are at a dire disadvantage compared to the rest of us when it comes to dealing with your thoughts. You do not get the luxury to express them when it is so necessary to do so. I assure you, we all go through these moments of doubt." Even without the human voice wrapped up in his tones, he still sounded strong and so full of caring. "It troubles me deeply at everything we have lost but there is hope. I see that hope whenever I look at my team. Whenever I look at you. You are a brave soldier Bumblebee, more than that you are the most optimistic. In return, it gives me strength."

Bumblebee picked himself up to his unsteady feet and approached the shell of Optimus. Crashing to his knees when he overlooked the emptiness in Optimus's optics. Bumblebee was so alone. He had never felt this alone and this full of dispair since the war started. He had always held a fragment of hope that one day everything would be okay again. But no longer. His dim optic looked over Optimus's body. Megatron literally ripped his spark out of his chest. Trying to pull himself away from looking at the damage he saw the Autobot symbol on Optimus's chest covered in dirt. He reached in between the parted truck cab and dusted off the emblem. His optics twitched and he brought his hand up to his emblem on his forhead. Dried mud coated over it still. He didn't bother wipping it off. He wasn't worthy to showing off the symbol anyways. His servos whined. He bowed his head down in a moment of silence. A moment of utter defeat.

"Optimus." Despite how shaky he was to his core, his voice came out surprisingly calm. He knew it was pointless to talk to a empty husk but he was so desperate. He needed to hear Optimus's voice again, presenting him with hope and optimism. Optimism, the word Optimus based his earth designation on. But no more. Just another name to catalog away, along with everyone else he had ever lost. Thousands of years worth of names all diminished at the hands of Megatron and his war. His tone shifted this time it cracked when he spoke. "There is no hope! Everything we fought for has all been in vain! There is nothing left!" Static washed over. He hacked quietly. "Megatron took _everything _from _us_!!" There was no us anymore.

His throat whined. "I don't understand! It doesn't make any sense! Why!? Why does everything fall so easily at Megatron's ends? Everything I lost! Everything he continues to take from me! There is nothing left for me to fight for!" He paused and looked over Optimus's face. "Optimus you were my hope! You're gone now! I just can't do this anymore!" His body quivered. His human emotional protocols wanted to take over. Demand irrationally why Optimus perished. Why he left him alone. Demand that Optimus speak to him just one last time, to tell him that everything was going to be okay. But it wasn't. He didn't have Optimus anymore. No Jazz, no Ironhide, no Ratchet, no Mikaela, no Sam. And he was already being irrational the way it is. There was no point in talking to a shell. It didn't make him feel better, just more . . . alone.

Bumblebee sat there in silence.

"Mr. Bumblebee," Sari softly spoke from behind. "just because you can't find the flowers doesn't mean they're not there." Bumblebee's optics shifted slightly acknowledging she was there. "It's just winter, okay? Spring will come back." She whispered. She was clearly upset at Bumblebee's disposition. Bumblebee's optics shifted again. No where in particular. Thoughts maybe, but he felt so emotionally overloaded and yet emotionally dead at the same time, there was no room for thoughts.

"Sari. I have to go into a mandatory shutdown now."

-

-

______________________________________________________________

_I need to stop doing this. Oh right, I have this listed under tragedy. . .hmm._


	4. Chapter 4

He woke in a human building still manned by humans. He was on a large raised platform of perforated metal. A quick scan of the room informed him of a human in near proximity. The man designated as Captain. His recharge didn't feel like it done anything for him. He was still weak and exhausted, and depressed. More life forms drifted not far from him, a hall away, a room. Bumblebee disengaged his sensors on account that he didn't care. Simmons could have full range of torturing his body now it wouldn't really matter to him now. Maybe it would numb the mental torture that Megatron had put him through. Despite all his sensors being close to offline, he could still make out voices. He didn't put in the effort to understand what they were saying or how many voices there were. He flinched his hand when he felt something touched it. The soft heat emanating from human hands as they slowly worked their way across his finger to the palm of his hand.

Sari couldn't believe how warm it was. And his hand reacted to her touch, he was sensitive enough to feel the gentle stroking of her touch. Although moment by moment, encounter by encounter she was becoming less and less surprised by his actions. Regardless of being an effective mimic that was possibly deceptive, he was truly a sentient creature, full of feelings and emotions. Regardless if he displayed them differently, or mimicked the human's display, it was all honest truth. And just like human emotions he could just as easily be hurt by crushing them. Before her was this massive creature. So big that if she wanted to she could probably curl up inside the his hand. _So massive, able to break through walls, and tear into other robots his size with such force and yet- _She pulled the rose out of her pocket. She set it hovering over Bumblebee's hand. With the mildest of touches she was able to orient his finger, then his thumb together to hold the flower. _And yet, he was so delicate._

_They broke him.__  
_

The flower lingered at his fingers. She expected at any moment for him to just release it and let it fall to the floor. It didn't, it stayed. She stepped back. Eventually the rose raised up for his face to examine it. His other hand came and his digit caressed the petals. Sari glanced back to her comrades. Marcus was with her when they chased Bumblebee to Megatron, so was the Captain. Both were there now. Marcus's eyes fixed on her's. Captain's was fixed on the robot.

"Say Bumblebee, I think we got off on the wrong start." Captain stepped forward. The robot's body made a sudden nerve-wracking grind. He then rolled to his side turning his back to the party. His parts that normally floated around him held no effort. They folded limply to the effects of gravity.

"Leave me alone." The metallic tone in his voice was no longer distinguishable to those people. It sounded so human now. Eyes darted to each other knowing that they somehow screwed up and weren't sure how to fix it.

"Bumblebee?" Sari pleaded. Bumblebee reached to his head and forcibly pulled his shield mask down hiding his face. Her eyes watched him, he made a movement but nothing to suggested he wanted to be interacted with. She then walked over to the wall and curled up in defeat. Her chest was heavy. She should have said something when Seven was trying to dismantle him. She didn't know what to do though, he had gone to Megatron's location. What was she to think!? Then again, he had his reasons for not trusting them.

He was looking for someone. Sam.

"Who's Sam? What deal did you make with Megatron?" She asked assuming they were related. She then realized it might have been too touchy of a subject to ask.

Bumblebee responded with silence. He started plucking the peddles off of the rose. The flower was eventually depleted. Depleted like his will.

"He'd get to do whatever he wanted to me as long as he kept Sam alive." The rose stem fell out of his hand.

"Good god!" Captain breathed. "How long?"

"Two months shy of two years."

"And he was the only friend you had left? After Ratchet? Optimus?" Marcus hoped he said the name right. Then the sickening thought of Megatron keeping a human. Especially sickening was the thought of keeping him as a bargaining chip.

"Ironhide, Jazz, Lennox, Epps, Mikaela," Bumblebee paused. "they were just the latest. I lost far more than that. I can list off millions." His voice was stoic.

Pained eyes studied the robot.

"How? What happened?" Marcus whispered.

Bumblebee vented air then rolled over on his back. "Megatron. Betrayed us."

"Betrayed who? Who's us?"

There was a long pause. Bumblebee didn't want to answer. What was the point. Would they believe him if he did?

"You didn't care before, Captain."

"Well, like I said, we got off on the wrong foot."

"Bumblebee, what does this have to do with our planet?" Marcus walked up to the grate and rested his hands.

Bumblebee's servos whined his head turned away. "I'm sorry." But no explanation.

"Bumblebee, talk to us!" Marcus pleaded. He looked over at Sari. She was still crouched at the wall but was fully focused to the conversation.

"Megatron," pause, "started the war."

"With who? Were you rivals? Different races? What?"

"We were, civilians."

"Civilians? One guy? You couldn't stop him? Didn't you have like a guard or an army to fight back with?"

"The Decepticons _were_ the army. Megatron was the Lord High Protector, he commanded them."

"Wait? What?" Captain furrowed his brow. He glanced over at Marcus.

"Can you tell us from the beginning what happened?"

Bumblebee made a noise of reluctance. He wanted to go back into shutdown.

Minutes ticked by. Captain shook his head blowing steam out of his nose, he turned to leave. Just as his foot crossed into the hall Bumblebee spoke.

"Megatron was the Lord High Protector of our planet Cybertron. He ruled peacefully in co-opt with Optimus Prime long before my spark was in existence." Bumblebee worked slowly through his thoughts. "Most of my early life was simple, like yours used to be. Work, life, simple _happy _things. We had less strife than what you have on your planet. The All Spark provided everything we needed. We had no reason to war or to fight over resources. Everything was so, peaceful." He paused, as if relishing an old forgotten memory. "Megatron was the leader of our defense system. Two branches, Protectors and Guardians. Protectors were military, and Guardians were civil servants. I was working in the Science Division as a technician which, I was content with, but my friend," quick name translator, "Cliffjumper talked me into getting a protocol in the Guardian Division with him. You could say he was the type of friend who always kept my life, interesting." Optics twitched in thought. Such innocent times.

"At some point the All Spark was acting strangely. Optimus thought it was because of something they discovered at an excavation site. Old ruins. Most of the Science Division was moved out to extract the relics. Somehow this ended up getting Cliffjumper and myself into the position of guarding the All Spark." Another pause. When he spoke again his tone was a little more defeated. "I wasn't worthy for such a task. But I didn't think anybody would ever try to go after it. After all, our entire planet thrived because of it. We didn't expect any sacrilege." Pause. "I was wrong. We were attacked! By an alien invasion. And by all appearances they went directly after the All Spark. We defended it off successfully with the help of Megatron but Megatron went mad after that. He waged war on them. It went against everything our society stood for but nobody really questioned it considering what they had done. His military went and destroyed them. When he returned he ordered Cliffjumper and me along with a few other guardians to arrest Optimus for treason." Bumblebee shook his head." It ended up being a trap. He TRIED to kill us!" He stopped in confusion trying to calculate the change. Data was missing. He never got the chance to ask if Optimus knew more, but now he'll never know. "We went into hiding after that. Megatron then declared to destroy any and all creatures in the universe who could be a threat to him."

Bumblebee whined his voice, "He started with us!" At this he sat up and reached up a hand to cradle his head. "He turned his military on any of us who didn't blindly follow his orders. Anyone who refused to annihilate other planets. We were peaceful. Most of us didn't even _know how_ to fight! His military slaughtered us! We didn't even stand a chance against them! They slaughtered thousands before we even had a chance to go into hiding!" He became animated with distraught at his thoughts.

"gezus."

"We had no chance against our military, we would have all been destroyed if it wasn't for Ironhide. He was captain of Megatron's forces who knew his job was to protect civilians, not destroy them. Because of him we were able to make a successful counter attack." He paused to cringe. "Or rather, delay the inevitable." A distraught moan irrupted from his vocal processor. "I'm sorry! I am sorry! Please forgive me!"

"Bumblebee? What?"

"The All Spark! Megatron wanted to use the All Spark as a weapon! The only way we could prevent him from getting to it was to launch it out into space. Because of me!" Bumblebee's voice cracked. "Because I was successfully able to stop Megatron from getting it before it was launched out of the space bridge," Bumblebee could barely utter out the next part, "I destroyed, your, world." His circuits burned hot again. He sank in defeat. "When we found it was here, we tried to get it away before the Decepticons found out. But we weren't quick enough! And the Decepticons found out that Megatron was on this planet. They freed him. We, we didn't have a chance! And now Megatron has the All Spark, and all I did was drag your planet into this. I'm sorry! I'm so very sorry!" His head dropped into his hands. "If you want Simmons to take me apart, I understand. I understand and I deserve it."

Captain and Marcus exchanged glances. Bumblebee was silent. Sari got to her feet and looked at the two. Marcus shook his head not sure what to think.

"No, we're not going to let Seven get anywhere near you! He'd just melt you down and turn you into bullets. You'd be a lot more helpful alive." Captain protested. A long pause. "Bumblebee?"

"I can't do anything helpful."

"Can't do anything helpful? You just said that you stopped Megatron at one point!"

"I was just a distraction! And I didn't stop anything. All I did was drag your people into this fight!"

"Oh for **** sakes! You were desperate. There was no way you would have known this would have happened."

Bumblebee turned his head towards Captain surprised that he would be defending him. "How can you say that? Look at your world!"

"Yeah? And what would have happened if you just let Megatron get the Spark? What's to say he wouldn't have shown up on our planet anyways? At least with you, we might have a chance."

"Don't you get it?" Bumblebee stood to his feet and walked around the riser to face them. "I can't make any stand against Megatron! He doesn't even consider me a threat!"

"Isn't that one of Megatron's weaknesses? Underestimating the little guy?" Marcus stone cold retaliated.

"Come on! You duped him once!"

"And it didn't do any good!"

"Sure it did. It brought him to our planet where we studied him for years! That's what you said right? Come on! Didn't you say yourself how powerful our weapons got in two years. As long as we stand, the stronger we get. Maybe this was just fate giving us the chance to take Megatron out for good!"

"Fate is such a stupid abstract ideology." Optimus believe fate would be in his favor. They all believed it. If that was the case he wouldn't be alone and the chosen Prime wouldn't be slowly rusting away right now. "Besides, even if there is such a thing, it seems pretty content at keeping Megatron in power."

"We make our own fate!" Sari disagreed. "Abstract or not, it exists. Maybe it wasn't on your side because you didn't believe in it."

Optics flickered. Rage welled in him at her stupid little words. Sari's heart stopped cold. She recalled back when she had thought Bumblebee was going to kill her for asking if he was Megatron's malfunction. She now _saw _what the kill directive looked like in his optics. It was terrifying. She needed to back track and fast.

"At least, I'm sure that's what Megatron thinks." It didn't come out as smoothly as she hoped. She was too busy staring at Bumblebee with fear welling up inside her. "Come on Bee, we can't let Megatron win and if you give up, he will!"

Bumblebee vented out some of his irritation. Optics shifted to her. One dim, the other black. They shifted away.

Marcus's eyes caught Captain's attention. They eyes darted to the door in silent demand they go talk. They quietly signaled to Sari they were going to step out for a moment.

Down the hall. Far down the hall. In to a small room.

"What's up Marcus?"

"I don't know. I just can't trust it." His voice was quiet. He really hoped the robot wasn't listening. Who knows how far his range was. Captain's eyes narrowed in question. Marcus shook his head. "I don't get your sudden change either. I mean, this thing has all but admitted to being the cause of all this." Marcus mentioned the room, though the obvious gesture was to the world. "I just think it would be better to just decommission him."

Captain's hand went around his mouth in thought for a moment. "It's like this Marcus. Any enemy of Megatron's is a friend of mine. And the way that Megatron seemed to go out of his way to fuck with Bumblebee, I'd say that practically makes us family. Now he's done something _big_ to piss off Megatron. Regardless of him saying he didn't do anything, he did something! Second point. The weapon. Do you understand how it's supposed to work?"

"No, I didn't hear the details."

"Okay. Basically it's a glorified spark disruptor. Which we know Megatron has taken a few hits with them, hasn't done shit."

"So-"

Hand went up to stop Marcus. "What this weapon does that makes it special, is that it uses the cube's power against itself. Just like a disruptor blast, but amplified to such an insane level that it coats the entire planet a few times over. Kills them, doesn't do anything to us. But in order to do that, we need to get the weapon to the cube. That's why all last week we've been having teams run around Megatron's building, mapping it all out. Getting _into_ Megatron's tower however, is a whole 'nother story. That is why we need to try and get this robot on our side. And if _he_ thinks he's responsible then he might not care that this thing will take him out with all the rest."

"Or we just don't tell him."

"Whatever you think will work. But I see two problems. One is your Zena Warrior Princess." Finger to Marcus with a raise of his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I'll talk to her."

"Number Two. Seven. I called him down here when we found out about the robot. Cept with that little fiasco of Bumblebee running over to Megatron's and Simmons seems to have a personal vendetta against the bot. I don't think Simmons will go along with it. From what I heard, once Seven get's his mind set on something, he's really difficult to work with. I don't really know what to do about that."

"Just go around him. Try to contact Rainman. He's on the military side of operations anyways."

Captain nodded. "I'll try." A moment of hesitation. He wasn't sure who he could go to for contacts. "Yeah, I'll do that."

He turned to head out into the hall. Sari was there talking with Riley. She was filling him in on all the excitement he missed.

"What's the news?" Marcus interrupted. Riley had stayed put when Bumblebee fled out of Simmons grasp. Right now he was the trust-able news source to what Simmons was planning.

"Seven wants every single outpost to hunt down Bumblebee."

"That's going to make things difficult."

"So, Bumblebee went after Megatron? Why the hell did he do that?" Riley asked.

"I don't know. You'd have to ask him."

"He stopped talking." Sari grumbled.

Captain sighed in irritation. He walked by them and into the room to face Bumblebee. Curious eyes, then bodies followed him.

"Alright robot! Listen up. You owe us energon with interest you remember that?"

Optics glared at him. They dodged away. "Yes."

"Okay then. I'm going to send you out to go collect some. Marcus, since your team is responsible for bringing Bumblebee to us, you're going to be in charge." He stepped away from Bumblebee and closer to Marcus "I'll work with Outpost Nine, we'll get the supplies you need, etcetera and work my way into City and get a hold of Rainman. We probably won't be able to communicate on radio, but I'll get my people watching out for you." Not good odds but humans have done well enough with even worse. He nodded and went off for preparations.

**************************************

Top side. Where a robot Bumblebee's size could stretch out. No more claustrophobia, no more cramped locations or places he was too big to fit through. He roamed through the streets with little worry. Not little worry, more like no regard. His current attitude was 'bring it, because I'm pissed.' Not the best quality for a well trained soldier. It was rash and impulsive. Right now he didn't care. As far as he was concerned, he wasn't a soldier. Not anymore. He was a mercenary. His payment was Decepticon heads.

The humans struggled to find a special balance between keeping up with Bumblebee and staying in the shadows. Bumblebee would have rather they stayed out in the open. After all, even toaster oven-for-brains made good target practice. Of course there were more Cybertronian Decepticons here than Bumblebee even thought possible. Did they all flee Cybertron and decide this was a better place to take up residence? His optics narrowed. He missed home. He missed both homes. His sensors relayed the broken world before him. Thousands of years spent on war. Four of those years were the best he had ever lived. The four were the ones he spent on reconnaissance on this planet. He was alone from his friends and allies. He missed them greatly and he had no one to listen to. But he found radio. He found tv. He found internet. He found life. But most of all, he found people. He watched them as they lived their lives smiling and laughing. So happy. People enjoying life like he once did. Sure there were moments when he felt a little more carefree back on the Arc. Or in company with the other Autobots. But nothing in comparison to the carefree and peaceful life on this planet. If he couldn't go back to Cybertron, this was just as much as home. Then, he made friends. Then everything was gone again.

"Are we raiding an Energon Harvester?" Bumblebee asked in monotone. It was almost pure robotic. Would have been if it wasn't dripping with negative feelings.

"You kidding me? Closest one is twenty hundred miles away."

"Less than two days travel."

"Drive?" Marcus gaped with shock. "Loo-"

Clicking and warbling. A camaro was now in front of him. Doors popped open as invites.

"That is soo creepy!" Riley breathed and stepped behind Marcus.

"Look we have to stay close to this city. We're waiting on orders from Captain and we don't have radios."

"How long?" Deadpan tone. Confused looks. Clarification, "Approximation to receiving pending orders?"

"I don- don't know. Two days or so."

The car could audibly be heard clicking in thought. "We'll stay in the area until you get your orders. Then if permitting, initiate an attack on the closest Energon Harvester."

"That's all well and good and all, but you don't need to go through the troubles of that."

"I owe energon with interest."

"Yeah but-"

"This discussion is over!" His snap in his voice caused the humans to shutter and huddle together. Long stares at the car in silence.

"I am _not_ getting in that car." Riley protested with a weak voice.

The humans made it clear they would rather walk. They made their way to an old mall and took temporary residence there. It was eerily quiet and empty. The humans did the usual scans of the rooms make to make sure there was no Decepticons loitering about. It seemed odd that they didn't come across any. Then again, their quiet lumbering giant had a few days of free ranging and there were a lot of mangled car and electronic parts littering the way here. The occasional glance and stare focused on Bumblebee. He seemed to be off in a strange autopilot mode. Scanners occasionally flicked in a new direction but otherwise he was completely stationary. When Riley and Sari were content that the building was free from danger, they brightened up and did a mad dash of mall shopping. They weren't guaranteed the very best condition of merchandise, but hey it was free. No complaining there.

A few hours later they returned with backpacks full of wares. They also sported newer cleaner looking cloths. Free of bloodstains. Bumblebee's optics twitched at his surprise of their color choices. Yellow and black.

"Here Marcus. Change of cloths. There's an old mattress store up a floor that the squirrels didn't get into too bad. And best of all-" Sari opened up a backpack and started pulling out cartons and cans of food. She picked up a tan colored box and tossed it to Marcus. He caught it and gave look with a twisted eyebrow.

"Health food?"

"Blame that on Sari." Riley opened his backpack full of junk food that avoided animal and insect attention. "I got the good stuff!" He started passing out bags of chips.

"Where's the Bumblebee?" Sari asked, her mouth occupied by a food container as her hands were busy. Marcus nodded upwards.

"Up there." Above them in a wall with a missing window exposing the interior of the building to the elements, the robot sat idly.

There was a squawk of surprise then more mulling over packaged bags. Food preparations were made, bedding set and a small fire to ward off the bugs and the cold.

"So, what's the plan?" Riley asked as his eyes scanned the ever darkening room.

"Well for now, we wait. There's no energon shipments for at least seven days and Captain's people are 'spose to find us."

"And how are they supposed to find you?" Bumblebee grated from above.

"By looking." Marcus replied matching Bumblebee's impatience with irritation. Marcus noted a mannerism in Bumblebee that suggested he was disregarding Marcus's reply. It was alright, he had something to match that too. "Say don't you have a tracking chip implanted in you."

Food fell out of Riley's fingers as his eyes dodged to Bumblebee.

"Yes."

"What did you forget about it?" Marcus quipped.

"No. I have no way of extracting it."

"You know that Simmons is going to send people out after you right?"

"Yes."

"Don't you think you should somehow, get rid of the thing?"

Before Bumblebee could respond his one word statement, Sari jumped in. "I could do it." A long moment of silence.

"I'd rather take my chances with Simmons." Bumblebee replied disengaged. Marcus scoffed, Riley stared and Sari shook her head sadly. Bumblebee's optics narrowed. That was actually an illogical statement. The reason why he didn't want them to dig it out was because it was too close to his spark. His spark that had been through too much lately. No he decided he didn't want to take his chances with Simmons. He only said that because he views Simmons as a threat to his goals. No better than any Decepticon out after greedy resolutions. If he came across Simmons again, he would engage him like he would any other enemy. But if he failed, he did not want to be tortured by his hand. Bumblebee jumped down from his perch.

"I changed my mind. I do not want to take my chances with Simmons. However-" Sorrow fixed on his optics for a moment as the claw marks in his spark chamber and the hole drilled through his armor into his bare protoform cringed in protest. Sari looked on as she waited for him to continue. He disengaged again. Optics darting away.

"There's a truck loading dock in the back. There should be tools there." Sari decided not to see what the however lead up to. Bumblebee didn't nod. He only looked at her with a pained dim glow. She lead him to the unloading bay. Marcus and Riley of course tagged along making Bumblebee's anxiety even worse.

He reluctantly obeyed when he was ordered to lay down on the ground. Even more reluctant when he was told to open his chest to expose his spark. Sari's irritated tone of voice didn't help. Comparable to the long minutes when Sari first refused to get into the Camaro, the same minutes ticked by as Bee refused to open his chest. Eventually they unlocked and Sari had to pry them open. The pulsing blue light drew the three to look at the spark in awe. Sari had seen it once, at an angle and half hidden behind and arm. Not like this, not seeing it pulse and flutter. Warmth flowed from it, but not like the burning stinging heat that radiates from a fire. Rather soft warmth. This was the source of what made Bumblebee tick. Sari had seen many chests open before, exposing their contents, but the sparks had already been gone and faded. To look at it now was-

"It's beautiful." Marcus whispered, he couldn't help himself. The thing that caught Sari's eye next was the deep lines of metal that were pealed away by a claw. Deep inside the metal casing that protected and surrounded the spark. Sari reached up and almost touched the lines. Bumblebee panicked. He screeched and tried to pull away from the humans that were on top of him.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hey hey hey!" Marcus waved his arms in front of Bumblebee's face.

"Whoa! Bumblebee! It's okay, it's okay! I won't hurt you!" Sari raised one hand up. The other was still braced against Bumblebee's body. She could have easily been smashed by flailing limbs. Her adrenaline rushed her systems. "I won't hurt you!" She reassured looking into the robots eyes. What she saw shook her. She saw eyes. Eyes of an animal who could do nothing but watch in terror as the predator slowly consumed his body alive. "Bumblebee, it's okay!"

He groaned and dropped his head back. A chatter of strange noises filled the air. The same noises that screamed out when Bumblebee cried in his native way. Sari had no idea what it was. Well she had a pretty good idea, but it was not based on translation but rather what she could only assume from personal experience. She assumed he was crackling out in desperate hysteria. It took a moment but he calmed down. She took another glance down at his exposed chest. She could see where Simmons's drill entered near Bumblebee's spark.

"Okay Bumblebee. I need you to tell me where you think this chip is. I won't touch anything else I promise!" Adrenaline drenched her system. She should have been shaky but she had learned how to use it. Her focus was as accurate as a human's could get.

"Underneath, the spark chamber." Bee's voice wavered.

"Here?" She touched with her fingers. The body flinched.

"Yes."

"Okay Bumblebee, I'm going to reach in and see if I can't find it. Riley I need you to hold the flashlight. You have to let me know if I touch something that belongs to you or not okay?" No response. "Bumblebee?"

"Yes." Fingers scraped at the concrete.

"Okay, just breath Bumblebee. Let me know if you can feel this."

"Sari, I don't think he breaths. And he's not having a baby." Marcus shook his head.

Her eyes gave him a disapproving look.

"I feel that."

"Okay. This?"

"Yes."

"Sari." Riley's voice squeaked. He re-aimed the flashlight.

"This?"

"No."

"Okay, I got it." She pulled out a small device with a connection that was feeding off of Bumblebee's energy. Either so minute that he couldn't feel it, or he had been so distracted he never noticed it. "You can close your chest now." Bee didn't need to be told twice. Sari tossed the device to Marcus as Bumblebee made his way to his feet.

"We should probably get-" A strange glance to the escaping robot. Not really escaping. He was walking solemnly towards a garage door. "Should we stop him?" Bee ripped the door off and jumped out.

"I need time to myself." Bee replied flatly. A few steps then he was out of sight. Sari wrapped her arms around her body, her head hung and her eyes filled with tormented frustration.

Riley grabbed her shoulder in support. "We should get some rest. He'll be okay."

*****************************

It wasn't Sari's shift to be awake. And yet she couldn't will herself to sleep. Riley's glanced at her. No words were spoken. He returned his gaze to distracting himself with a piece of wood and a knife. The sweater he picked out for himself was too big. The sleeves came down past half of his hand. Yellow with a black logo of a racing team. He leaned back and stared out at the sky through the open hole in the building. No robot was sitting up there. Sari got to her feet and mumbled something to him. Nothing audible or coherent, but he understood. She needed time to herself. He sat there in silence. Regardless that it was his turn to watch or not, he wouldn't have been able to sleep either. Marcus on the other hand . . .

She roamed down the halls of the mall thinking about the past week. It would be an understatement to suggest that it was eventful. Emotions dripping. First was absolute appreciation. Then loneliness. Then desperation. Then- she shuttered. The look he had. At first she couldn't understand any of his facial expressions. Now they came as easily readable as a fellow humans. It pained her to see the look of horror in his optics. And she was just trying to help him. _Simmons and Megatron._ An invisible monster jumped in front of her and jabbed its hand through her chest. He had her heart and he was squeezing. She whimpered. He was afraid of them. _It's not supposed to be that way!_ Any other robot on the planet she would have loved to know they cowered in fear over them. But not Mr. Bumblebee. Not the bee that brimmed with sweetness when she first met him. She found a counter in one of the rooms and perched herself on top of it. He could sting. She was sure of that. She saw what the Jaguar looked like when Simmons's team drug it off. A venomous sting but only if you stepped on him or invaded his safety. She shuttered again. Even with the thick sweater on and the warmish weather she felt very cold. She wanted the Bumblebee back that she first met. Sweet and helpful. Almost too eager for a friend. Maybe that's what happened. Maybe he was too trusting and it was shattered. _Simmons and Megatron._ Bumblebee had been stepped on and his safety had been shattered to nothing. It was only a matter of time before someone got stung.

She tore her mind away before she breached into crying. Even if she was a distance away from Marcus and Riley she would hate them to catch on that she cried. And Riley, he could read her like a book. She grated at his ability of perception. Crying _bad_. She didn't want to be the damsel in distress. She adjusted her eyes to the room. Anything to distract her from her welling up emotions. Stuffed animals. She was in a cuddly kid shop. _Ugg!_ She searched around for something though. Maybe a rubix cube or 3D puzzle. UGG! She pulled out a yellow plush toy. A bee. It had the dumbest looking face she had ever seen on a toy. And yet it caused her to giggle. A giggle that didn't help suppress her pain. Rather mixing it up in a weird giddy unhappiness laugh sob. She sniffled to contain herself and pocketed the toy. She then left the room now trying to walk off her desire to cry.

The mall echoed. It seemed so strange to be in a mall this quiet. She hadn't been to one in nearly two years. What an unbelievable amount of change to happen in two years. First it was Megatron announcing his new leadership. Then everywhere he went, electronic devices came to life and started killing people. People went into hiding but then they were being hunted down by robots who could actually think and outsmart people. Two years ago, she was just a girl in a high school. One that she didn't fit into too well. Now she was a girl out in a wasteland who was fighting for her life. Fighting for her life! She screamed. A mechanical beast leapt down and slashed his claws down at her. She rolled out of the way and slipped her gun over her shoulder. It turned and smacked her across the body. She fell back but not without pointing the gun at the creature. She landed on her back and the creature hovered over her. A shot gun blast, another, then another tearing through the chest of the creature. Every impact pulsed blue light causing the robot to flinch, each time. It fell beside her. She kicked her leg at it pushing herself farther away from it. Riley's voice called out in a panic at a distant. Her emotional desire to cry was gone, the panic was gone, she was now focused. _Where was the next one!?_ Her senses amplified. Her nose picked up the sent of gunpowder, her ears had ignored the shotgun blasts but were attune to every whisper of wind, every foot step that Riley leapt. Jumping three stairs at a time. Her eyes picked up what little light there was and everything seemed brighter. She was very proficient at using her adrenaline. She lined up a shot. An even bigger robot jumped into the missing window. One blue optic. A relieved sigh and her gun lowered.

"Sari!? You okay?" Riley came up behind her. Marcus was not far behind. Bumblebee looked down at her. A sadness in his glowing optic. He jumped down and walked up to examine the robot. It once was a kitchen appliance.

"You missed one." Sari muttered to Bumblebee. She was so relieved that he had returned. At the sound of her scream no less. Okay, she'd allow herself to be a damsel in distress, just for him though. The rest of the night was uneventful. Bumblebee took most of the watch allowing Sari and Riley their much needed rest.

The next day wasn't very exciting either. Bumblebee had still drifted into his yes, no half-afted robot talk. Sari was relieved that at no point did they chase him off.

The third day, Bumblebee was getting impatient. He indicated that he wasn't picking up any organic life forms. Marcus mumbled in a nonchalant regard. It chased Bumblebee off. Or rather, Bumblebee went off to chase down any human that wasn't Riley, Sari or Marcus, which of course caused Riley, Sari and Marcus to chase after Bumblebee, in hopes that the robot didn't get himself shot down for his rash impatience.

************************************************************

_Grrrr!! Monday night I got completely derailed. (Stupid speech club) I was barely able to write what I did. What ticks me off the most was Monday I was on my game, until I had to break away to write a speech. Ever since it's just been. Meh, don't care. I was able to pick it up again tonight, but now my vision is going blurry._

_Anyways, I want to draw too. I want to draw scenes from this story. So if anyone has any scenes from my fic they'd like to see illustrated let me know. I'd be happy to oblige. _


	5. Chapter 5

It was unnerving. He was good. A little too good. Bumblebee had completely slipped into the shadows almost as effectively as a ninja. However he wasn't trying to lose the humans so he would allow them to spot him just enough for them to keep up. Within the hour, Bumblebee honed in on his prey. Two parties of freedom fighters who were scouting the area. Then Bumblebee just disappeared. Okay, he was impatient, but he wasn't rash. He as too smart for that. It was time for the humans to pick up the slack and investigate the scouting parties. They soon discovered that neither group was from Outpost Nine or following Captain's orders. One group was under direct orders from Simmons. Capture the yellow robot with a tracer, preferably alive, Simmons had something special planned. That wasn't even the bad news was.

"Captain? You know him?!" Marcus managed to get the two groups together.

"Heard of em." The smooth clicking noise of shotgun shells getting slipped into the magazine. A cigarette pursed between his lips making Marcus jealous. Sari and Riley gagged as a cluster of smoke hit their faces.

Marcus sighed. "Have you heard anything about him lately?"

"Yep."

Marcus blinked. "Care to elaborate?"

The man took a long drag on his cancer stick figuring he wouldn't live long enough for it's effects anyways. "Simmons had him arrested."

"WHAT?" Three voices in unison.

"Yep, conspiracy or something."

"Great." Marcus growled.

"Why? What'er you looking for em for?"

"He was supposed to get us supplies so we could raid an attack to get energon." Marcus coldly stated his business knowing that it could easily lead them into trouble.

"You're not with Outpost Nine are you?" A person not in cigarette man's team asked Marcus.

"No. Why?" Marcus fidgeted.

"Heard they disbanded, must have been after he was arrested."

"Why the fuk would they do that for?" The man plucked his cigarette from his mouth. Before the other man could reply gun fire was heard in the distance.

"Shit!" Weapons were grabbed and they bolted towards the noise.

*********************

"Shit!"

Weapons were blasting out rounds of fire at the hunters. Hunters. That's what the humans called the Cybertronian Decepticons. Cunning and intelligent, one hunter could wipe out a whole outpost if they could get in to one. Cannons returned fire over head knocking large parts of concrete apart, flinging dust and rubble into the air. One could easily finish off all these people. Three emphasized they were doing this for fun.

"We're dead! We are so dead!" She screamed at her friend as she loaded another clip.

"Then take at least one out! If they take us down then make damn sure you take one of them out!" Shot gun and assault riffles cracked the air around them. Glowing red optics narrowed at them. Its weapon swiveled and aimed at their direction. A blast of yellow leapt down dropping the creature.

Three Decepticons. Seven- an explosion - now four human survivors. Selecting targets. Bumblebee threw his fist into the downed Decepticon below him with enough force to crush his metal skull in. More than enough time to get the other two Decepticons to zero in on a new target. Bumblebee rolled out of the way as an onslaught of missiles launched at him. Second target. He pinpointed a strong ranged fighter. Bumblebee unleashed his cannon. Forgetting how much it hurt to snap it forward, his aim floated the blast past the Decept harmlessly.

Bumblebee rolled out of the way as a barrage of fire struck the wall where he had been standing. Dirt and concrete particles pelted his face mask. He launched out another blast. This one didn't connect either. Aim was off, something wasn't configured right. Shot went too far to the right. Recalibrating to compensate. Gunfire halted in all parties for a moment to reassess the situation. Bumblebee stood still a moment looking out-numbered and out-gunned. His target's maw rolled up into a smile while his comrade was behind Bumblebee lined up a perfect shot. With a sudden burst of speed Bumblebee jumped back and grabbed his new target, forcing his gun upwards. The blast crippled the ceiling and more rubble rained down. Bee's cannon blasted a charge at a weak spot on the Decept's armor under his arm causing him to drop his weapon. Bee swung the Decept around to intercept the missile that was intended for Bumblebee. He then tossed the Decepticon at the other to buy himself enough time to pick up the weapon with his off hand.

The Decepticon stepped out of the way of his crashing comrade and launched his cannon at Bumblebee while Bumblebee simultaneously launched a shot with the weapon. Bumblebee was hit, but so was the Decepticon. Bumblebee jumped towards the Decepticon firing the weapon with his offhand and launching another bolt from his cannon. Close enough range now not to matter about the weapon being unaligned. Or it did, all shots missed as the Decept tumbled out of the way. Bee's feet hit the ground. As they did a fist smashed across his face, springing him backwards. He dropped the weapon. Bee rolled as another onslaught of explosives erupted around him. A loud crash from behind. Bumblebee turned to see yet another Decepticon land behind him. Bee fought with his cannon arm trying to bring out his arm again, but the gears meshed as he tried. He turned and launched a blast of energy at the new target. That hit.

Bumblebee rolled as more projectiles were launched at him. Roars of explosions, shotguns and assault rifles were announcing out to a mile radius of the party that was going on. More humans showed up and began dancing with fire power. Strange bullets tore through Bumblebee's armor. Bumblebee jumped to the second floor to avoid getting himself fragged by _everyone_. Through the holes he continued to pelt the Decepticons below with fire power. Finally he was able to creak his hand through and disarm his cannon in another painful snap.

At a chance to drop a Decepticon he leaped down behind it. Reaching up he grabbed its head and chest pulling them apart. This left exposed facial sensors. Breaking his elbow across them was enough to decommission the machine. He didn't have time to choose his next target as the next Decepticon flung himself at Bumblebee knocking him back through the wall. Bee's face was punched again. When he looked up he saw a heated blade weapon lining up for a strike. A blast rang through and the Decepticon pulsed blue for a moment. Then fell limply on top of him. Sensors fixed on the shooter. He didn't know him, but luckily the shooter felt the Decepticon behind him garnered more attention rather than shooting the prone robot. Before Bumblebee could make his way to his feet he was surrounded by toaster brains. They scuttled over him but they were easily dispatched, if not horribly annoying. Sitting up he saw the last Decepticon. Bee couldn't help it, he snapped forward his cannon once again and took a shot to the Decepticon's head. Breaking it enough to knock it back for the humans to lay into it. Bumblebee rolled to his feet and jumped to the opening. The man rolled out of the way accessing the danger the yellow robot posed to him. Bumblebee charged another shot into the Decepticon finishing it once and for all. He then charged, blasted at the new onslaught of toaster heads. Then again. Again. Again. Again. Acting faster than the humans could even turn to see where the next one was coming from, Bumblebee dispatched them.

More pebbles rained down from below as the chaos turned strangely silent. Humans stared at Bumblebee not entirely sure how they should react. Bumblebee's hand fidgeted with his cannon. His optics glared over them as he waited for a reaction. If they were still intending to shoot him down, he figured they would have done it already, but it wasn't a guarantee. One of the humans picked herself out of the rubble and took a couple steps towards the giant. Her gun in her hand. Optics narrowed.

"Is that the bot from Nine!?" Someone exclaimed behind him. Bumblebee paused to garner a look back. Humans coughed at the settling dust. People were trying to assess the dead and wounded. Others were keenly observing the robot. Bumblebee pushed and shifted parts to his cannon until he was able to fold it away without causing pain sensors to light up everywhere. He took another moment to assess the damage. Lots of wounded, eight dead humans, four dead Decepticons, a handful of dead toaster ovens. Bumblebee turned and walked away, trying to hid his limp as he did.

-

Marcus's team, cigarette man's team and the tag along team finally reached the building.

"What the hell?" The cigarette dropped from the man's mouth. "How the hell are you not dead!?"

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you!"

"Let me guess. A yellow, fifteen foot tall robot?" Marcus heard that story before. He couldn't believe he missed Bumblebee in action _again!_

"For real? The robot from Outpost Nine is real?"

"Hey, we have hurt people here. Can we discuss the robot later?"

************************

"How bad was he hurt?"

"He? Robots are male now?"

"I don't know, you could probably call him she if you wanted to. I'm just getting sick of hearing him, her get called an it."

"Yeah he didn't look like a she though."

"It's a robot!"

"Yeah a robot who saved your ass! Show some respect!"

Death lay at their backs. The fire crackled loudly away in the darkness. At dawn the fire would be built large enough for the survivors to say goodbye to their lost friends. But for now, it was time to rest.

"What were you doing topside anyways?" Sari curled up on uncomfortable rocks and her eyes watched the fire drift.

"Heard that Simmons was after a robot that was in this area. We figured we try and track it down for him."

Marcus bit his tongue. He glanced over at Sari and Riley. They weren't about to say anything about it either.

"Speaking of which." Cigarette man was staring down at an electronic device. "It's in the area!" He stood up to examine the downed robots. Sari glanced up at Marcus with a frightened look.

'I got it.' He mouthed back to her. Her eyes yelled at him.

"Non of these are yel- Wait! What color did you say that robot was?" Cigarette man turned to the survivors.

"Yellow and gray."

A strange look crossed over the man.

"What? You think Simmons might want to capture the Outpost Nine robot?" Marcus tempted a bait. He avoided eye contact in case it didn't work.

"That wouldn't make no sense now would it. From the sounds of it. Simmons wanted to do some metal extraction. If ye get what I mean."

"What? You mean kill the Nine robot? Why would he do that?"

"UGG! His name is Bumblebee!"

"Sari!"

"What? I'm sick of hearing him being called Nine robot! He has a name you know!"

Marcus rolled to a sitting position expecting to earn himself the center of everyone's question prod.

"Bumblebee? What kind of lame ass name is that?"

"He turns into a yellow car with black stripes. Don't ask." Marcus shrugged. He watch Sari flick dirt into the fire with disapproval.

"Where you there? Did you see him?"

Marcus inhaled slowly. He glanced over at Riley. "We didn't see him take out the Jaguar. We heard about what happened though. A guy named Cap-" Marcus discontinued his train of thought. If he let on more, the cigarette hick might bring his head to Simmons.

"Captain?" Cigarette man spit. Too late.

_Damnit._ Marcus avoided eye contact as the man walked behind him. Now towering over him. _Damn damn damn! _He felt the man's hand reach down and grab his jacket. Reluctantly Marcus followed to his feet.

"There's something you're not telling us." The man glared at Marcus. Marcus pried himself away.

"Not sure what I have to say."

Riley leapt to his feet at a threat of hostility. Sari sat up watching the ordeal. The man dragged a long breath on his cigarette. The fickle of ash pulled itself closer to the man's fingers. Now nearly everyone was on their feet.

"Look. Simmons was going to strip the robot who killed the Jaguar, same robot who took care of these. Captain was trying to help him and from the sounds of it, got arrested for it."

"That's a load a bull crap! Why the hell would Simmons want ta kill the robot that's taking out it's own kind?"

"I don't know. It sounded like Simmon's had something against the bot."

"Oh yeah? Like what? There must be a reason for it!"

Marcus paused. He turned his head down and sighed. "I don't know."

"Don't know?"

"Well it's not like we had a chance to ask the guy!" Marcus growled.

The man cussed with more imagination than one should allow for adding to Jesus's middle name.

"Well maybe you could ask Bumblebee." Riley muttered.

"Ask the robot? You're team ain't too bright are they?"

A glow of resentment crossed over Marcus's eyes. He looked over at Riley who sheepishly looked down at the ground. Marcus addressed to Sari with a voice full of defiance. "Go get Bumblebee."

She looked at him with questioning eyes. After all, Bumblebee was off and on in regards to speaking to them.

"Sari, go see if you can't get him to talk." He ordered, soft to her but an edge of better than you to the hick. Sari didn't think anything would come out of it, but she went anyways. Cigarette man shook his head as he watched her go out alone. Marcus narrowed his eyes. _'You're team ain't too bright_' Those words grated. But Marcus knew that he also had a fifteen foot robot on his team and ever since the mall incident, Bumblebee kept a pretty close eye on Riley and Sari, regardless of his appearance of not caring. So no, he wasn't letting her go out alone and even if his team wasn't too bright, they had luck to make up for it.

Sari had _no_ idea where to look for Bumblebee. Funny, you would think a giant, yellow robot with headlights on his chest would be a bit easier to find. Alas when he wanted to, he could disappear like a shadow on an overcast day. Right now, he didn't want to disappear. Looking up at the buildings a tiny blue moon looked down at her. Sari couldn't help but smile, she turned back to the building that everyone stayed back in, and bolted into a run towards the building Bumblebee took refuge in. It took a little bit, but she finally managed a way to the roof.

"Hey." She preened slightly out of breath. Bumblebee had busied himself plucking small pieces of metal from inside his armor. Bullets cast out of cybertronian metal. The ground was littered with them. She slowly stepped towards the Autobot, tiptoeing around the metal glints as if they were landmines. "You doing okay?" She asked with both her voice and her eyes. His optics reached her for a moment then went back to his body. More small mushroom shaped metal pieces dropped to the ground. She reached up and touched his yellow armor to examine the small holes. His fingers were too big to get the pieces that were embedded. Even Sari's fingers weren't small enough. The robot paused, debating how much longer he would tolerate her hands on him. She let go before he decided. He went back to picking and scratching. She sighed and rolled up sitting down beside him. He was in no mood to talk, she didn't even need to ask to find that out. He settled shortly after staring off into the horizon. His body was torn and burnt and full of holes. He looked exhausted.

'You should -' Her voice wasn't carrying from her mouth. She sat up and tried again. She inhaled. "Bumblebee, you should get some rest." She finally was able to get air to pass by her vocal cords. He didn't move. Only his optics drifted. Fixing themselves to the view of crumbled buildings off in the distant.

"Please."

He vented air. A soft blue orb glanced at her direction. Music started playing causing her to startle.

_#How the hell did we wind up like this? Why weren't we able, to see the signs that we missed; And try turn the tables__  
__  
__I wish you'd unclench your fists, and unpack your suitcase; Lately there's been too much of this; But don't think it's too late__  
__  
__Nothing's wrong, just as long as You know that someday I will__  
__  
__Someday, somehow; I'm gonna make it all right but not right now; I know you're wondering when; (You're the only one who knows that)__  
_

_Someday, somehow; I'm gonna make it all right but not right now; I know you're wondering when__  
__  
__Well I'd hope that since we're here anyway; That we could end up saying; Things we've always needed to say; So we could end up staying__  
__Now the story's played out like this; Just like a paperback novel; Let's rewrite an ending that fits; Instead of a Hollywood horror# *1__  
_

The chorus started again at 'Nothing's wrong' but the radio faded out. Sari didn't know what to say. She swallowed acknowledging that he at least made an attempt to communicate with her. She shuttered. There was more death tonight and Bumblebee somehow blamed himself.

"They want to know why Simmons hates you." She mumbled. She didn't really want to go back down there. She didn't want Bumblebee to go down there and explain to horrors of what happened to him. Her mind flashed his blue optics. The fear, the terror, enough to drive him mad with desperation. Desperate enough to go to Megatron to find out where his last friend was. "You're so alone." She caught herself too late, she didn't really intend to say that out loud. She shuttered wondering what the robots response would be.

Silence. Sari wrapped her arms around her legs. Better that than chasing him off.

"If," Bumblebee looked at her carefully. She returned the look. "If I rest," slow and unsteady, "will you watch over me?"

"Of course I will!"

Bumblebee picked himself up off the ground. He slipped into a hole on the roof and found a dark corner to recharge in. His optic dimmed. He wasn't dipping in to recharge however. Marcus and Riley were down below trying to make allies for Bumblebee. He needed to know if he would be able to approach the humans at all in the morning. Or if something really bad happens, he would need to intervene. Thankfully, within those two hours, nothing to that extreme happened. The humans retired for the night. It was safe enough for Bumblebee to retire himself, but his processors could not be quieted. Thoughts and memories suddenly took precedence over rest. Bumblebee tried to background the thoughts and memories, but they still persisted. Thriving. Popping up to the foreground regardless if Bumblebee forced them to terminate or minimized them. Bumblebee grated, it was going to be another night that he wouldn't get any rest until he went into a forced recharge. He might as well allow the memories full range just so he could get this over with.

Re-analyze data. Start at the beginning. First contact with the creatures from the planet Earth. Assess and reassess. Processors ran through the thoughts and memories a thousand times before. Running through them again wasn't going to unlock some hidden secret to change the past, yet he still couldn't convince his processors to quit.

The strange vessel hovered before them just as they left the space bridge. It was very alien and yet disturbingly familiar. Cybertronian military familiar which could only mean _Decepticon_. Yet at the same time, it was very primitive. The ship was inhabited by strange life forms that Ratchet could not identify. Before they had a chance to firmly establish any decent amount of information about them, the Decepticons attacked the Arc. The Arc, Optimus's ship, was horribly undermanned. The others had drifted away long ago in their Comet Alts to look for clues to the All Spark. Only Optimus, Ratchet, Ironhide, Jazz and Bumblebee remained. Optimus and his crew found the biggest clue they had in all the eons of searching. It really did seem like destiny. A life form from far, far away that had somehow stumbled upon Cybertronian technology. Which meant they either discovered the All Spark or Megatron. And considering that they were relatively primitive and _alive_ the latter did not seem likely. A clue to the All Spark! Look for their specific organic radiation among the stars and it will lead them to their planet! Bumblebee jumped at the chance to go. But it wasn't upbeat enthusiasm. Rather his worst fears came true. Fate and the Universe were mocking them. Of all the infinite number of planets and galaxies out there, the All Spark landed on a planet that its inhabitants were intelligent, feeling creatures. The Decepticons would no doubt be looking for the strange planet as well as they discovered the same clues they did. If the Decepticons or Megatron get's their hands on -

_No, do not tangent! Do not go into those thoughts!_ You know it will only lead to the reality of what did happen.

Entering earth's atmosphere. He did not know anything about these creatures or the planet. A planet so overloaded with life that it blinded his organic sensors for weeks. But as he entered through the atmosphere, he could sense that he was already being watched, already being monitored. The data collecting sentries followed him as he descended. As if going planet side wasn't stressful enough he now had to rush to avoid getting captured. Land fall. His energized force-field did little to the effects of physical contact. It was there to protect him subzero temperatures, sun radiation and soften the blows from energy blasts but it did very little against physical weapons. Like wise, the force field did little to soften the blow of crashing onto a planet. It is always a high risk endeavor for sustaining damage. Thankfully this time, nothing major happened. Constructing a new Alt forms always weakened their ability to heal. It took the greatest amount of newly formed protometal to change his appearance and the shapes to mimic the objects on the planet. Another stroke of luck was that the humans used metal technology as opposed to organic which would have left him completely exposed. It was odd, it was as if humans and cybertonians had a common connection somewhere. New data entered. Sun harvester had been built planet side at a time before humans formulated written language. It would tie humans to using metal as technology over their organic properties.

From the moment of planet fall to his eventual capture, Sector Seven had been after him. There was insubstantial evidence to suggest that Simmons was involved from the beginning, but it was Simmons's motives that Bumblebee discovered. To examine him, to investigate him, to take him apart and to exploit him. Simmons with the help of Sector Seven _hounded_ Bumblebee. They even set a trap for him. The All Spark was on the planet for sure. He had sensed it. Or at least something that imitated it, but following that path was too invasive. Too dangerous to him and the humans. Under Optimus's orders no humans were to be harmed. He would either have to risk killing in order to prevent himself from being captured or find a different path. Besides, the invasive path was being followed by the Decepticons. He did not want to get tangled up in a mess like that. Most important of all, he was falling in love with the planet and it's people, to attack them would go against his code. If only they could communicate and work with the humans rather than avoiding them. It was attempted, but all calls went unnoticed. It wasn't until a human tried making contact with Optimus. Unfortunately, the message did not translate well or it was halted. The only words Optimus was able to construe was 'froze', 'ice' and 'alliance'. Any attempts to clarify went unheeded. No communication, no invasive measures, the odds already seemed to go against their favor. But for once, the Decepticons weren't one step ahead of them, instead it was Sector Seven.

Bright lights blinded his light sensing optics. Against orders he followed Optimus. He couldn't help it. After four years on earth alone he finally made contact with the human who had the key to their salvation, the ocular lenses with coordinates to the All Spark. To his surprise the human and his friend befriended him. It was at a bad time, Barricade had attacked. It was not the way Bumblebee wanted to expose himself. Yet Sam was surprisingly trusting. That meant so much to him. He had watched Sam for a while before he became 'his car'. He was a normal human who had the same petty problems that others did. To Sam they were earth shattering petty problems, it amused Bumblebee but deep down he was jealous. He wished his problems in life were just petty, rather than earth shattering. Earth shattering problems like Barricade and his drone finding out about the lenses and coming after Sam. Bumblebee had to do an emergency call to the Autobots for help. Their time suddenly ran very short. Too short. The chaos at Sam's house, Optimus's worry about bringing their horror to an innocent planet tested his patience. It left everyone else in a frenzy which only furthered Optimus's uneasiness, leaving him more impatient. Sector Seven came, they were going to capture Sam and Mikaela. Optimus was going to hide them while the others hid themselves. Bumblebee disobeyed Optimus's order, he had to make sure his new friends would be okay.

He jumped in front of the helicopters to defend them. Only it became so apparent that they were not the target. Something hit his hand wrapping around it, then he felt resistance as he felt his arm being pulled towards the helicopter. He glanced back. _Sam, Mikaela!_ Another shot grabbing his other arm. His leg buckled under him as he felt the harpoon strike. Then his other leg. He felt a snap and his legs gave out from under him. Panic washed over him. 'Prime!' he screamed. His voice processor couldn't quite establish the words but you didn't need words to say _fear._ 'Optimus!?' Optimus stood back and did nothing. Dread and melancholy befallen over Bumblebee. He did this to himself. He disobeyed an order that was to keep him safe. He had to live with the consequences. It was now his order, he didn't have to like it, but he obeyed. To his surprise, Sam tried rescuing Bumblebee. He ran up and grabbed one of the men's freezing weapons and turned it against the man. _Sam cared? Sam trusted him and tried to protect him!__  
_

_Please. Let me rest. Stop on a good memory-__  
_

The cold made it hard to focus and hard to determine time. Blasts of cold struck his face causing Bumblebee's voice to whine. Pain and confusion. The sensation of being moved. Dark was then light, then the light disappeared. He was underground now. In a large room, he was moved to a platform under strange examining tools. Things were getting locked down and energy signatures in the device above increased. An electromagnetic pulse struck him. It caused an uncomfortable sensation. He heard the humans chattering to each other, but the blasts of coolant across his sensors made it too hard to focus on what they were saying. He felt other forms of energy strike him, at varying strengths. Nothing too painful but entirely frightening. After several attempts that caused sensations forcing strange noises to bounce out of his voicebox, they gave him a moment of rest.

Humans were buzzing around him. Bumblebee realized that his sensors weren't getting coated with nitrogen. Fuzzy things slowly came into focus. Then they left the platform.

**_Warning_ Stasis lock imminent__**

_What? _Memories snapped out, closing themselves down in light of more important matters. Stasis lock? Bumblebee frantically looked through his sensors. He wasn't damaged that much was he!? He had muted his pain receptors so he could try and rest, but he didn't think anything was severe enough-

His healing nanites couldn't work around the bullets. Some had struck important lines. His energon lines were breached as well as his fluid lines that regulated his temperature. He looked down. He had been bleeding out this entire time!

_____** Stasis lock engaged_____****  
**

************************************

"RILEY GET UP!!" Sari rushed past the men and women sleeping! Guns armed at her approach, she blew by them before they even had a chance to lower again. "Riley!"

"Sari?" Marcus sat up dazed. He hadn't expected her to return until morning since they hadn't returned before he turned for the night. Sari ignored him as she frantically picked through her backpacks full of tools. Needle-nose pliers, tweezers, flat edged screwdrivers, other mechanical tools.

"Sari?! What's going on?" Riley slow and groggy at first, saw her move frantically, quickly got to his feet.

Marcus stood as well.

"Bumblebee went to sleep injured! He won't wake up!" She screeched. She rushed back to the building where Bumblebee was. Marcus and Riley bolted after her. Eyes shot back and forth to each other, some drowsy, some alert, all bewildered. They all followed in curiosity. They reached the third story of a mangled building to find Sari, Riley and Marcus already at work trying to pry bullets out below Bumblebee's thorax where the armor wasn't as thick. Sari was frantic, she had yellow liquid splashed all over her body as she worked on areas that were visibly dripping.

"Sari, don't get any energon on you!" Marcus scolded, not that he meant to, but he didn't want her getting poisoned while she frantically tried to help the bot. It was already too late. She accidentally smeared some over the top of her hand, energy sparked across it and scolded away her skin before she could wipe it off leaving a nasty unearthly burn mark. She bit her lip to push back the pain. Pulling her yellow sweater off she wrapped up her hand and reached in with the screwdriver to a energon line to dislodge a bullet.

"I got it!" She exclaimed. Now she could only hope that his wound would heal before it was too late. That was it for the major lines that were breached.

"What more do we have to do?"

Sari slammed her sweater down in defeat. "I don't know, I don't have enough tools here. His bleeding needs to be cauterized but I don't have a torch hot enough!"

"Here." Somebody slipped up behind her and offered her a large roll of electric tape. Band-aids, it will have to do.

"Wear these." Cigarette man tossed her a couple of leather gloves. Far too big for her but she wasn't going to make a fuss about it. They spent the next few hours plucking out bullets or blotching up black tape over holes while the other groups sat by and watched silently feeling either useless, or unsure if they should help or not. Marcus pried the last of the bullets out that he could reach. Nothing could be done if there were lines severed on his back as he was rested up against a wall. There was no way to move him. They were stranded inside a building, unlike last time where they drove in a vehicle to tow the robot out of the ground.

Pulling bullets out, wadding lines up with black tape and hoping for the best is all they could do. Morning drifted into day. The other fighters departed, they had their own injured and dead to tend to. With nothing more for Sari, Marcus and Riley to do, Sari broke down into tears over her friend. She should have paid more attention last night, she should have noticed the puddles of fluid then rather than after he made a commotion.

A building over, the putrid smell of burning bodies invaded the air. Marcus shook his head in disgust. What a waste. Everything.

"Hey." Marcus turned to face a woman behind him. She tossed him a soup can sized container. "Maybe it will help?" It was a small flask of energon.

"Sari." Marcus handed Sari the flask. She looked up with blood stained eyes. She whimpered something. How was she supposed to use it? She couldn't open Bumblebee's chest. Marcus pointed at the whole Simmons's machine made.

"I'll try." Sari weakly spoke. She picked herself up and opened the flask. The hole opened up right under his spark, hopefully his spark was strong enough to suck in the energy. Edging her hand up carefully through the opening drilled into the car head she could only hope for the best. It seemingly took as Bumblebee's body shifted and he groaned slightly.

***************

_Humans were buzzing around him. Bumblebee realized that his sensors weren't getting coated with nitrogen. Fuzzy things slowly came into focus. Then they left the platform.__  
_

"Okay, in three, two, one."

Energy struck his body and went straight to his spark. Bumblebee yelped at the sensation. Still nothing too painful, but the sensation that it left on his body was increasingly frightening and disturbing. His sensors and body rattled as he tried to recover.

"Still nothing. Try it again in five."

Five minutes came and the sensation happened again, this time even stronger. They continued with this procedure at every five minute interval through the next hour, each time getting stronger, more painful and more terrifying. At one point they stopped to do some examination on his body. Again human bodies buzzed around him. Bumblebee turned his head and saw a female standing there looking over some of the data on a electronic pad.

#Oh baby, don't hurt me; Don't hurt me; no more# *2

She looked at him with a bewildered look on her face. Bumblebee's optics shifted on her, he whined, pleading that she listen to him. Another scientist came up behind her, startling her when he touched her. He also mirrored a bewildered look in his face. The thought that they could be doing something very unethical suddenly crossed their minds.

"Don't tell me you're going to loose your clearance over some Haddaway!" Simmons growled behind them instantly catching what was going on. They turned back and looked at him then shuffled off, this time a lot less enthused with examining a giant alien robot.

"Well isn't that something." Simmons beamed over his trophy. "Four years and we finally got you!" Bumblebee looked over at Simmons who had addressed him. With no cryo-weapons blasted on him or strange energy spikes getting launched into his body, he could focus enough to gain information on where he was at. Other people were in this area. Scientists and technicians. There was another man there as well. Like Simmons he wasn't wearing a labcoat or a hardhat. The man with the mustache and Simmons were discussing a meeting with Secretary Keller and something about an invasion. Bumblebee's mouthpiece shifted trying to put more focus into his audio receptors.

"Have you figured how to make him go unconscious yet?" The man with the mustache asked the room full of people.

"Not yet."

"Well you better, we need to pull him apart as soon as we can. We need to know what makes him tick. We can't just put him on ice like the other one."

"Can't pull apart a Popsicle stick! Let's move it people!" Simmons clarified and ordered.

They were going to put Bumblebee in stasis so they could tear his body apa- wait _'We can't just put him on ice like the other one.' _Other one? Other one! MEGATRON!? HERE? Panic fluttered through his sensors. His servos grinded as his voice tried to scream,

*******************

"No no no! Not with Megatron! Don't put me next to Megatron!" Bumblebee's voice cracked. Then a bewildered moment crossed over him, his words came out clear, not garbled like they should have. His optics lit up and in a panic surveyed the room. He expected the cold blast of nitrogen over his face and body. That is what's supposed to happen, right? No cold blasts. His body felt cold and stiff, but it wasn't because of an outside source. Another thing that wasn't right, it was too bright to be in the underground room.

Reset optical scanners. _This doesn't make sense!_ Reset audio scanners.

"What was that?" Marcus's voice yelped. _Marcus's voice?_

Focus scanners. Focus sensors. Pain! Bumblebee's body fell back as he writhed with pain and numbness. _What happened? _He was in a dusty building with large holes tore out of it. Sunlight flooded the rooms. He could have swore he was under Sector Seven's examining table, wait. Most of his systems are in a lock down. His arms and legs are cold and unresponsive. When he tried accessing his body's sensors they came back with a flood of damage reports. His spark was weak. A realization. He just came out of a stasis lock. His memories had picked up right were they left off at. His cloudy sensors tried to focus. Did he just have something akin to a dream? He recalled all those times that Sam would scream as he fitted with his recharge cycle. He also recalled all those times that he wanted to rush to Sam and make sure everything was okay but then Megatron would drive his claws and kicks at Bumblebee. Daring Bumblebee to make a move to get past him to rush to Sam's side. Bumblebee took on that dare a few times with Megatron promptly putting him in his place. He cringed. Sam had to deal with the nightmares by himself. Was this what it was like? Reliving a horrible moment over and over again? Even worse. He imagined Sam's moment to be far worse.

Bumblebee examined the warnings that flooded over his system. He was stabilized but was still in dire need to recharge. His spark was too weak right now. His optics dimmed and he drifted back into a recharge.

______

"Alright, gimm'e the tracer. I'll tell Simmons the bots were caring it with 'em. That should git him off your trail for a while."

"We'll talk to all the outposts and try and find out what's going on in City. We'll help you get your supplies for an energon raid."

"But I'm warning you Marc. If that robot ends up backstabbing us, there is going to be hell to pay! You get me."

Marcus nodded numbly. "I get you, and thanks. This means a lot to us."

"Ain't doing it fer you. I'm doing it cuz we need to get that weapon up and running, and if you think your bot is-"

Bumblebee had jumped down from above making an earth shaking thud a few yards away from them. It took a moment to compose himself, he was still weak. Natural reaction told everyone they should take their guns out and start blasting. Fighting the reaction left knots in their stomachs. The cigarette man turned back to Marcus giving him one last 'don't screw this up' looks. He then pulled open the door to a large flatbed truck that had the remains of a Decepticon strapped to the back. The diesel engine started and sputtered trying to make use of the energon fuel that was being fed into it. He put it in gear and went off his way. Marcus walked up towards Bumblebee.

"We've been stationary for too long up here. It's amazing more Decepticons haven't come after us." Marcus looked over Bumblebee. "Come on. The old Outpost Five is near here, we can rest there."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Sorry, I'm still not on my game since 2-3 Mondays ago. _*sigh. _Positive feedback please to get me out of this rut

_Song *1 S_omeday – Nickelback

Song *2 What is Love – Haddaway

Practice painting of Bumblebee's face: www (dot) /~ouchimoo/Bumblebee_blue (dot) 3530411 (dot) html

I'll get my scanner up and running one of these days


	6. Chapter 6

Mmkay, I think quite a few ppl have been waiting for this. Here you go. Hope I didn't disappoint.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,, .............. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ...........

"I sure hope we don't come across any dead bodies." Sari shuttered. Bumblebee cocked his head at her in a curious fashion. The walls were a lot narrower here than in Outpost Nine making it a lot more difficult for Bumblebee to navigate. He had to crouch and avoid his door panels scraping against the walls giving irritating feedback in his sensors. They rounded the corner and her comment suddenly made sense. The first thing he noticed was the large claw mark that scraped along the wall all the way down the hall. They weren't slashed or acted upon because of a battle, but rather claws that tested their worth as something was about to happen. As he walked farther, the walls lit up with dried blood. The blood may have been barely visible to human eyes but they lit up brightly to Bumblebee. A cursory scan showed blood smeared and sprayed on nearly every wall and floor. This is what the humans would say 'a blood bath' happened here. Marcus muttered something under his breath. A swear as he prepared himself for the scene about to unfold before him. Bumblebee paused for a moment and examined the claw marks. Then the healing scar was on his car chest. They looked to be from the same sized claw.

They crossed past some rooms that were tore to shreds. A horrid stench lingered heavily in the air, causing Sari and Riley to visibly gag. Marcus himself took a moment to adjust to the miserable smell. For Bumblebee, his chemical scent receptacle didn't register the smell as offensive, but rather what it represented was. Death. Bumblebee stepped himself into the lead and directed the headlights around. With everything sprayed down with blood his organic detectors didn't work well, with everything broken and destroyed, his radar sonar couldn't pick up anything tangible, no use for infrared unless he was looking for rats, the most effective thing left to use was visible light. Using both high intensity wavelengths and visible waves from the headlights Bumblebee could see everything as clear as day. Every scratch slashed, every bit of flesh that stuck to the wall. Internally Bumblebee shuttered. They reached the end of the halls. They led into a much larger room with a normal sized door. Or what used to be a normal sized door. The Jaguar had ripped a hole in the wall making it big enough for Bumblebee to squeeze through. He stepped through into the dark room. The three humans followed him. With Bumblebee's lights they caught grizzly shapes hanging in the center of the room.

Moans of horror erupted from behind Bumblebee. Marcus cursed under his breath again. Bumblebee stared, memories conjuring up sights from his home planet. Fellow Autobots' heads mounted on spikes or metal bodies pitted open and displayed out like trophies. In front of him, the Jaguar had displayed his trophies. A moment of contemplation then he decided he should probably remove the bodies from the area. He dimmed the headlights and approached. He hated touching bodies. Regardless if it was rotting organic or rusting cybertronian metal it still set his sensors on fire in protest.

"What happened here?" Bumblebee looked at Marcus. Marcus could feel the hairs standing at end as he prepared himself to tell the robot about what happened the last time humans trusted a robot.

"The Jaguar." That was the obvious part. He looked up to meet Bumblebee's optic. "He tricked the outpost, convinced them that he was on their side, so they let him in." Marcus cross his arms. Despite Bumblebee dispatching the Jaguar, four other Decepticons and keeping watch over Sari and Riley, he still couldn't bring himself to trust the Camaro. This was why. Marcus studied Bumblebee's reaction or expression. He wasn't sure if he was convinced by the sadden look that crossed over the yellow bot.

"A typical Decepticon tactic." Bee's voice remarked flatly. Inwardly sulking, it was one that worked well.

"The people in here, didn't have much of a chance." Marcus continued. "The weapons that we use now, the bullets made from your metal and the pulse disruptors, we just started using those weapons when this place was raided. That was only about half a year ago. Pretty much drives to heart that even with our new weapons, we can still get our ass handed to us."

"Why are we here again?" Riley asked in bitter protest. They decided finding a less stressful room would be better to rest in. They staked out and finally found a room big enough for Bumblebee to fit into. Along the way they found some provisions that were left untouched by the Jaguar. After all, what need would he have of canned food and bottled jugs of water. That however, did not make the place coated in death a very welcoming stay.

"We need a place to hide so that Bumblebee's injuries can heal. We can't go to any other outpost and I don't know if we should stay topside with all the hazards." Marcus's eyes watched Bumblebee. Bee in turn looked down at his injuries. The new bullets were able to penetrate his metal which he hadn't expected. Coupled with all the damage he took from blasts of canon and energy fire, it was no surprise that five bullets managed to make vital injuries.

"Uck, it smells bad in here."

"It's probably me." Bumblebee looked down at his hands, they and he was covered in a thin layer of rotting organic liquid. He picked himself up to back away.

"Here," Sari got to her feet and picked up a large jug of water. "This won't rust you or short you out or anything will it."

"No. My injuries haven't impaired me enough for me to get rust sickness." If his spark stopped reproducing new metal and his nanites were no longer working, he'd have worse things to worry then water anyways.

Bumblebee allowed Sari and Riley to dump water and scrub his parts clean after handling the corpses. He couldn't lie, as much as he didn't appreciate water dumped on him, he did appreciate the act of getting some of his armor cleaned and the attention. Then his optics caught something disturbing.

"What is that?" Bumblebee glanced down at Sari's extremity. He snatched Sari's hand as her scowl betrayed her innocents.

"Hey!" She yelped as she expected a heave of pressure on her arm. Fingers holding a flower, he was instead quite gentle. Unbelievably gentle. Marcus yelled as he intervened. Instead when he reached over to pull Sari away, his eye caught what Bumblebee was looking at.

"Sari you're hand!" Riley gawked. The energy burn had seeped deep into her skin. At the burn a yellowish transparent bubble formed over a black char, then the rest of her hand and half way up her arm had turned black and blue.

"Sari." Marcus reprimanded. Bumblebee knelt down to look at it closer.

"What is it?"

"That, is an energon burn." Marcus replied examining the full amount of damage. He pulled out some white powder and put a thick coat over the wound. "You should have mentioned this earlier Sari! You know you could loose your hand if it spread too far."

"Energon burn?" Ticking. "My fluids are dangerous to you." Riley looked up and nodded. Bumblebee went back to examining Sari. She had yellow fluid all over her, saturated in to her clothing. "Sari, you're contaminated in toxic fluids. Your skin is porous, you should remove your clothing at once!" He reached out to help her if she needed it.

"Bumblebee!" She snapped back. He was taken by surprise. He cocked his head as he cycled through his information banks as to what he did. Her behavior suggested that Bumblebee acted inappropriately. Sari face flushed red indicating she was embarrassed. His optic narrowed and the blue lights twirled in thought.

"Oh." Humans were self conscious of their bodies. Showing the differences between their male and female body parts seemed to be ingrained as improper to show in the company of the other sex unless they were in the process of copulation. Bumblebee didn't fully understand it. No other species in their world seemed to hold such views. He tried to liken it to his kind walking around with their sparks exposed. Although that wasn't apt, sparks were sensitive and easily damaged which could be fatal. He shook the thought from his head, the minute details were unimportant. "Sorry." He felt embarrassed for misunderstanding something so important in her kind. He drew away from her showing that he was truly sorry. "But please, clean yourself off before you get sick." She forced a smile, trying to wash away her embarrassment with nonchalance.

"He's right Sari. You should have cleaned up a long time ago."

"Okay." She turned and walked away to find a secluded place to clean up. Bumblebee watched her with warmth in his optics. She was covered in fluids because she tried helping him when he was bleeding out. He tore his optics away as soon as he realized the emotion. _No! Do not get attached. Do not get attached! It's not worth the pain!_ The corner of his optic picked up Riley's presence. He flushed out hot air from his system. He pried his optics away from all the humans. He didn't need friends just to lose them again.

Disregarding the strange hiss from Bumblebee, Marcus sighed below. "What about you Riley? Do I have to babysit you too to make sure you didn't somehow inadvertently give yourself a slow death?"

"I don't think so."

Marcus shook his head again. "I don't know who's worse, Sari or the damn robot." He sighed. Speaking of robot, "Bumblebee, do you need to rest or something to heal your injuries?"

"It does help quicken my repair cycle, but- I have not been able to go into a normal recharge. Not for a while now."

"What?" Marcus examined the robot wondering if it was something cryptic, something broken? Or maybe something so simple and similar that it shouldn't be overlooked. "Like you can't sleep?"

"Something like that. Lately the only times I've been able to sleep is through forced shutdowns. Excessive thinking tends to take precedence over recharging."

"Thinking too much? Keeps you awake at night? Wow."_ Really?_ Were they really that similar? "Yeah, we know what that's like."

"Well, maybe you can talk about your thoughts. That helps me sometimes." Riley suggested.

"Odd. You do not strike me as very talkative person." Bumblebee remarked. Riley's eyes dropped in shame. Bumblebee somehow managed to offend him too? Optics dimmed. "I did not mean that in an impudent way, Riley."

"I just don't normally have anything to talk about. Not unless I want to talk about death." Riley's eyes glued themselves to the floor.

Bumblebee's emotions jumped from stoic to angered. Awkward silence filled the room as Bumblebee examined Riley. He always seemed like he was trying to make himself invisible. People shouldn't have to choose between non-existence and death!_ Always hiding always running. _Bumblebee was sick of hiding and running. All there was is to look forward to is death. Megatron's doing! To what purpose? Bumblebee grated, he was helpless to fight back. His gears and servos radiated with heat. The only thing he could do was try and make Megatron's life difficult. His only option was to deplete Megatron of his fuel source.

"Marcus, you're orders from Captain have been nullified. At the first possible chance, we need to destroy the Energon Harvester!"

The demand took Marcus and Riley by surprise. The robot sounded relatively decent not two minutes ago.

"Absolutely not."

Bumblebee rose to his impressive height. "Marcus I will _not-_"

"Listen to me you lug head!" Marcus stood to meet Bumblebee's towering presence. He used his anger to mask his terror of challenging this robot. "There is nothing we gain by destroying the harvester! We can use the fuel that it makes, that's the only way we can make these weapons that we have now! To destroy the thing now is completely worthless to our cause!"

_Worthless._ Those words strung Bumblebee's core. His gears clashed together and more heat radiated off his parts.

"What's going on?" Sari asked as she stood in the doorway. She didn't have time to fully wash herself off when she heard Marcus yelling. Marcus disengaged his ferocious stare down with the robot.

"Riley, Sari I need to talk to you." He nodded towards the door. Riley was quick to disappear from the giant robot's sight. Marcus walked out behind him and turned his head back to Bumblebee to give him a cold glare. To remind Bumblebee that he wasn't trusted. Bumblebee made no motion outside of glaring back.

"Marcus what's going on?" Sari whispered as Marcus forcibly scooted her down the far side of the hall.

"You're robot is what's going on! I swear that thing is going to somehow get us killed!" A pause to rub out tension in his temples. "He wants to make a raid on the Energon Harvester and I don't know what to do to keep him in line." Marcus growled under his breath.

"Well, maybe I can talk to him." Sari edged carefully.

"No! You know what? I don't want either of you two near him.-"

"Marcus!? But-"

"Sari, I mean it! I don't know where the hell you got the idea that he's friendly but I'm seeing anything but. Sari look. He, it's a robot. You can't expect it to have any feelings for anything."

"Marcus!"

"Sari!"

"Damnit Marcus! We just need to give him some time!"

"Give him time? To do what? Get us all killed?! That'll be what will happen if we go after the Harvester! This isn't some gawdamn road trip!" Marcus sighed. He needed to stop himself before he turned this into a screaming match. Luckily for him Sari was too perplexed right now to respond. "Sari." He replied flatly. "It's _not_ human." He let a moment for that to sink in. "Sari, you _need _to stop anthropomorphizing this robot. You need to stop giving this thing emotions it doesn't have!"

She stared at him. "How can you say that?" She whispered her body was a little shaky. He had seen the same emotions she had, how could he still not be convinced?

She didn't say anything more. She waited for his response and he wasn't willing to give one.

"What about the energon?" Riley peeped in quietly after a long moment. Marcus solemnly shook his head.

"I don't know Riley." His tight lungs puffed out air in frustration. "I don't know. Everything is banking on getting those flasks of energon. If we could just get ten or so. That would be more than enough to power up Simmons's weapon but, without the robot's help a raid seems, I don't think it'll happen." There was more he wanted to talk to them about, but with the frustration coursing through his body, he forgot what. Hopefully nothing too important. With nothing else coming to his mind to say, he groaned and walked back. Bumblebee hadn't moved. The robot looked just as pissed as the second they left the room. With all intents and purpose, Bumblebee was listening in on the conversation. Nothing impertinent was reported. Nothing except the grating reminder that he was nothing but an emotionless tool to these people. Marcus barely glanced at him. Hairs stood at the back of his neck like pins and needles. He didn't want to betray his tough exterior by shrinking in fear to the creature nearly three times his height, so he simply tried to pretend it didn't exist. The creature snorted a hot blast of air out of it's vents, unintentionally reminding Marcus that indeed, he was stuck with the giant robot.

"I'll go with you." A meek voice with such a statement barely registered in Marcus's brain. When it did, he looked back at Sari in an expression of disbelieving horror. Bumblebee also shifted his optics to Sari. "I'll go with you to the Energon Harvester." She repeated as she awkwardly stepped forward. The noise that came from Bumblebee could only be perceived by an angry animal's snarling. A loud one, then a long one mixed in with a drudge of ticking. Marcus would have flew into a fury to argue her down, but he was currently too intimidated. This time however, there was no need,

"No." As cold as the robot's voice could be, responded.

"Bumblebee-"

"Absolutely not." Another growl from the robot, this time his face snapped to Marcus. His battle mask was down. Two large steps. One to clear the distance and the other to force Marcus into feeling cornered. Now Marcus's shell had cracked as he looked up at the towering being. "I will company you to the human slave depot where the energon will be brought to. I will repay my dues and pay back the energon I owe. However after that task is completed, I _have _no farther obligations to you people. Do you acknowledge?" Marcus nodded his head, holding in everything to avoid trembling to his knees. Bumblebee narrowed his optics on him. "Good." The insect face snapped over to Sari's direction. Bumblebee turned and walked up towards her. "Sari, does this place have a welding facility?" She glanced over at Marcus then looked back at Bumblebee and nodded.

"There might not be any power though."

"Then check. You are required to make additional repairs to my weapon systems. Let me know what you require."

She nodded again. She herself was reeling back at the cold tone the robot was using to talk to her. Her gut wretched and her eyes couldn't stand to look at that mask anymore. With disengaged eye contact, Bumblebee turned and walked away. With perfected grace he slipped through the door and he wasn't seen for the rest of the night.

***

The smell of death below ground and the site of death above ground didn't help Bumblebee's mood. All of this was the Decepticons' doings and he was helpless, no, worthless to do anything against it. His optics dimmed as they tried to hold back the negative feelings that wanted to pour forward. He was nothing now. An Autobot with his emblem buried under a thick layer of dead soil. Buried like Optimus Prime. A husk that had spent itself on a worthless task.

_"We are not soldiers! Not anymore." _Ironhide's words rattled through Bumblebee's worn and battered circuits. Now more than ever it grated his circuits. At the time, he could not fathom hearing such words roll out from Ironhide's vocals, but now, now he understood. Ironhide had sensed it long ago. He saw there was no point in this charade. Bumblebee was a fool to keep on going. Maybe if he listened back then, it would have been different. He'd at least have Ironhide and Mikaela. And he would have never prolonged Sam's miserable existence.

He once was an Autobot, but no more. He once was a soldier, but no more. He once was a friend, but no more.

****

The road was surprisingly clear. Surprisingly, because after Megatron allowed the communication arrays to spring back, the only thing that was announced was that the planet was now his. Every internet website was wiped out, every news cast and radio station could report nothing other than Megatron's self proclaiming dominance over the people. The panic caused people to flood out of the cities. Mission City was the first to evacuate, for obvious reasons. It was the first city that Megatron experimented the cube's power on. By The time the people did make it out of the city, there really wasn't many left. The humans were without hope. At least any they were aware of, but what did exist was starting to feel the hopelessness cross over their sparks as well. Three military bases had been checked over thoroughly. They were able to scrap together what the could from the bases, a few provisions and more ammo, but no survivors, no effective weapons, no new hope. Now Ironhide and Bumblebee with a handful of human allies were stranded on the side of the road. Like many times before, Bumblebee's engine and rear axle had overheated. As well as any other car part that was linked to the pieces that made up Bumblebee's legs. He was in no condition to travel this far on his injured parts. Ironhide knew this and hovered over Bee in a protective manor full of regret that he pushed Bumblebee so hard. And like usual, Bumblebee had never once complained. Ratchet was right, Bumblebee was in no condition to make an attack on Megatron. Hell, he wasn't in any kind of condition to flee. This was their seventh stop today. His injuries were getting worse due to the constant wear and tear.

"I'm sorry." Bumblebee apologized weakly as he sagged on his chases.

"Bumblebee, we aren't too far from the base. When we get there, we can take all the time we need for you to heal." Even though the stern voice tried to soften, his grizzly growl could never be erased. Bumblebee made small sad noises. It wasn't necessary. Years living with his team in muteness had garnered Bumblebee a quality of communication that required no sounds. The sounds however, were important to Bumblebee. He needed to express his disappointment with himself. His engines sickly rumbled to life. He would fight the pain, he could make it. To his surprise Ironhide rolled in front to block his path. Ironhide learned long ago that Bumblebee would push himself exceedingly past his limits. So much so that even in times it was necessary to intervene. Sometimes he worried what would happen if no one was around to steer him right. His over eagerness to prove himself sometimes had harmful side effects.

Hot gears poured steam into the warm atmosphere, yet his engines refused to rest. Bumblebee revved his engine, testing it's capabilities. It sounded good enough, but Ironhide still refused to budge.

"Don't push yourself so hard." Ironhide kept his tone flat. "We'll go when you are ready!" This time his demand got through. Bumblebee's engine sputtered to silence.

The humans still hadn't gotten over their first impressions of Ironhide yet. An intimidating presence who likes to show off his fire power. Knowing the real Ironhide however, Bumblebee knew that deep within his harsh tone was kindness. His intimidation most certainly wasn't a shell, indeed Ironhide was by far the most intimidating in Optimus's team and he was that way naturally, but he was also quick to console and praise when he saw fit. He saw how far Bumblebee pushed himself without complaint.

"Take your time." Ironhide rolled back and perked himself up on his chases. He would keep watch as Bumblebee rested. Likewise, Bumblebee shifted on his chases trying to make himself more comfortable. He just needed time to cool down. He set himself down in a partial recharge. As comforting as it was to have Ironhide keep watch, he really missed Ratchet right now. Not just because he needed repair, but the disturbing knowledge that his friends' deaths were going to catch up to him eventually. They always do.

-

He didn't know how long he was in partial recharge. It wasn't enough to let his systems fully cool down so not even a full fifteen minutes.

"Bumblebee!" Ironhide's voice roared out a warning. His diesel engine flared to life.

Peaking his scanners, Bumblebee sensed what the alarm was about. A jet was quickly closing in on their distance. Bumblebee's engine roared to life. The jet was heading directly for them. He didn't sense that it was Starscream but he needed to get out of there fast! Ironhide spun around and raced to keep up with Bumblebee's new found speed. Ironhide and Bumblebee were side by side down the highway. The speed wasn't enough to outrun a jet, He needed to distance himself from Ironhide so they could out maneuver th- _SNAP_! The surprise caused him to yell out more than the pain did. Bumblebee's engines died on him and his speed sputtered to nothing. Ironhide had already passed him before realizing something was wrong.

"Bumblebee!" Ironhide's voice shouted. His breaks slammed and his wheels skidded across the asphalt as his body spun around to face Bumblebee. "Get out!" Doors flew open as he ordered his human occupants out. The jet was close now. Close enough for even the humans to see two projectiles surge forward. Two missiles that headed straight towards Bumblebee and his occupants. There was no time to transform to shoot them down. Clicking and sliding metal Ironhide transformed out of his vehicle form with only enough time to leap in front of Bumblebee. The missiles exploded around him as the first one sunk in solidly into his thorax. The second shattered through his metal and embedded itself into the tar next to Bumblebee. Ironhide dropped to his knee. Hot metal seared his wound open.

"Ironhide!" Bumblebee shrieked. He kicked out his passengers and tried to transform.

"Epps! Where's that damn radio!?" Lennox screamed out before realizing that his own had been spit on the ground by Ironhide's transformation. He dashed for it and started screaming into the radio. "Disengage! You have friendlies down here!" The jet overhead flew by. _Forget protocol, stop shooting at us!_ The jet banked.

"Two more!" Epps focused on two that were accompanying it. Bumblebee scrambled below Ironhide.

"Dammit don't shoot! You have people down here!" Lennox screamed into the receiver before tossing the radio to his Technical Sergeant.

Bumblebee transformed. He jumped to his feet to aid Ironhide but his right leg couldn't handle the weight. His body crashed to the ground. Ironhide stumbled to his feet. His chill blue optics glanced at Bumblebee then up to the skies. Without any more hesitation he popped in a new type of ammo in his blue lit cannon.

"Ironhide! What are you doing!?" Lennox screamed as Ironhide aimed his cannon at the approaching jets. Ironhide blasted out the shot. Ice surged though the soldiers' veins. Time froze still for them except the winding puff of white smoke that projected the blast forward. The robot was attacking their own men. The look of betrayal washed over their faces. The charge erupted in the sky. In a strange radius it blanketed the sky in white, washing over everything. It wasn't a blinding flash of light, just white nothing.

Optics flicked to a new wave sensory. "To you're feet!" Ironhide grabbed Bumblebee's arm. Ironhide threw Bee to his feet and forced him to run while he braced himself under his shoulder to support his bad leg. He stopped when he realized that there was absolutely no cover in this area. The flare was already starting to wilt away. "This way!" Ironhide continued to try and find cover. The best he could do was a crevice to a small creak nearby. It wasn't even big enough to conceal one of them fully. Bumblebee was the smallest and his armor wasn't as strong, Ironhide forced Bumblebee down and used his body for cover.

The jets ahead slipped past as the color returned to the world. Either loosing their time frame of pinning down their targets, the surprise of going momentarily blind or Epps's struggle to relay radio contact, the jets unleashed no farther attacks.

Then jets disappeared into the distance. The humans stood by in stunned silence as Ironhide and Bumblebee still huddled over a hole in the earth.

Lennox rushed towards the robots, "None of those were Starscream were they?"

"No." Ironhide grumbled. As if their problems weren't bad enough, the humans weren't able to distinguish them from the enemies. Being relatively safer than before, Ironhide picked himself up onto his feet. He then helped Bumblebee up.

"Now what?" Lennox stood below them. His eyes studied Ironhide's damage. Outside of holding back a wince, Ironhide for the most part, ignored it.

"We keep moving. There's no cover out here, we may not be so lucky next time." If this was considered lucky.

*

The world was eerily dark. A night where the moon and stars were nowhere in sight, yet the air was crisp and dry which made it seem as if there wasn't a cloud in the sky, just engulfing darkness. Likewise the Topkick's lights pointedly struck through the darkness, but the light didn't stray from the beams. The human's view was limited to the two beams that highlighted the road and the sparse grass that bordered it. Past the lights there was one other thing visible and it was so foreboding it wrenched everyone's insides. Blaze orange fire that tickled the dark smoke above before that too disappeared into the blackness.

"Not again." A soldier's mouth pursed in grief.

A familiar and daunting scene lay before them. It was quite clear that the jet encounter wasn't a random chance. Ahead was another destroyed base. This time it happened recent enough that the flames still kicked high. Ironhide's diesel rumbled. He continued forward as Bumblebee stayed back. A strange indication to the humans.

Ironhide rolled up towards the gate but far enough back to keep himself shrouded in the darkness. Now Lennox's men saw what Ironhide sensed beyond their vision. Armed soldiers lined up their guns and prepared themselves for a fight.

"Hold you're fire!" Epps hollered from behind the hood of the cab. He grabbed his weapon and jumped out of the truck box. Lennox stepped out of Ironhide's cab. He raised his arms and stepped out in front of the headlights to prove he was human.

"I am Captain William Lennox." He turned to point to Epps and his men. "This is my team." The five men that were left.

A moment of silence. The edgy soldiers' eyes darted among themselves. Finally one shouted out the reason behind their apprehension.

"I don't know if you know this _Sir_, but you're truck has alien written _all _over it!"

"I'll give you introductions later, first what do you have for survivors?" Lennox boldly stepped towards the soldiers. He wasn't their target. "Don't worry about him!" He snarled and grabbed the nearest gun and pointed it skywards. For everyone else he held is hand out in a way throwing something that shouldn't be shot at in their line of sight. That drew some nasty looks.

"Survivors?! Most of us got wiped out by one of those things!" A soldier stared down the barrel of his gun at Ironhide. Lennox's men lingered between him and the truck's headlights.

"Just one?"

Megatron, Starscream and Barricade were left, which one did this? Process of elimination. Barricade didn't have the firepower to do this much damage.

"What do you mean _just one?_!"

"Was he carrying a cube or-" the soldiers disengaged Lennox and his questions. Their eyes were too focused on the truck before them. "Did it make electronic shit come to life?!" Lennox got in their faces. Eyes eyed him cautiously.

"No." Although the surprise made it sound like a question.

"Well good, at least that means we don't have to do clean up." Lennox grumbled as walked back towards Epps. "I'm getting sick of shooting toaster ovens!"

"Then it was probably Starscream." Epps ignored his captain's rant. "By the looks of it, those jets got to him before he could finish the job."

"So?" Lennox hissed back.

The soldiers gaze drifted to Lennox and Epps when their conversation sounded like they knew something.

"It means that he's probably hurt enough that we could take him down."

"Yeah. If we could catch him." Lennox glanced back into the darkness where Bumblebee had hidden himself. "And our boys aren't exactly fairing too well themselves." Before he could say more their conversation was interrupted.

"Excuse me, Sirs? You mind telling us what the hell is going on here!?"

A moment of tense air. Another soldier stepped into their faces.

"I'll tell you what I know. I know is that I'm supposed to kill any nasty robot that I see, and according to that scanner there, I need to kill your truck and something over there! So you mind telling me why I'm not shooting them?"

"Because they are on our side, they are friendlies."

The soldiers shifted uncomfortably. "Friendlies? Are you serious?"

"Serious? We shed blood, sweat and precious metal together, I would say that's pretty serious!" Epps was feeling increasingly brazen as rifle reticles still lined up at Ironhide. At the last base a large sparkling would have crushed him if Ironhide hadn't intervene to save his ass. The man shifted uncomfortably but it wasn't because of Epps's 'in you're face' attitude. Their eyes were fixed on two blue orbs that approached in the darkness.

Bumblebee quietly limped to Ironhide's side and used his friend as a brace so he could lift his injured foot off the ground. Lennox shot a nasty look at Bumblebee for exposing himself too soon. Behind him the soldiers went back into their battle ready stance.

"Survivors." Bumblebee was optimistic at what he saw, despite the fact that they were afraid of him.

Hairs stood on the back of everyone's neck. Everyone who had mammalian hair. As if one robot hadn't been bad enough, now there were two more and six people were nutty enough to tell them not to destroy them. This was their chance, they saw that the robots were injured. One had it's quivering leg suspended in the air as it struggled to balance itself. The other had large tears of damage that skittered randomly across the truck body. Likewise, as if getting attacked once today wasn't bad enough by their very own people, a group of soldiers were threatening to destroy their robotic friends. The only allies they have who actually give them a standing chance against Megatron and Starscream. Being threatened to be taken out by the very people they are trying to save.

"How's your leg?" A young voice pierced the darkness. The armed soldiers held steady not knowing what to expect. The yellow robot reacted by trying to shield something behind him. What ever that was, didn't seem content to stay hidden. Mikaela stepped around him determined to see what was going on. The soldiers seemed to ease up slightly at the site of the young women, or they were just too stunned to stay focused. She in turn gave them a momentarily glance before she reached over to examine the robot's leg. "We really need to get you some rest." Mikaela gave Bumblebee a careful study before jogging up to Lennox. Her approach eased the soldiers out of their battle poses. Whether it was because of a fresh new attractive face or because of her absolute trust of the robots, negotiations for asylum at the destroyed base went over relativity smoothly.

Fires were extinguished, survivors gathered and supplies obtained. Forty-eight soldiers, two robots and one civilian had now taken up residence in the disheveled wreck. The more able soldiers and Ironhide scrounged over the remains of the base looking for equipment and supplies while the injured soldiers, Mikaela and Bumblebee rested by a small camp fire built to give the cool air some warmth.

"More injured." Ironhide informed as he carefully set a few more broken bodies to the ground. Bumblebee tried to get up to help but settling weight on his foot caused it to go out. Ironhide caught his arm before his body crashed to the ground. "You rest." He instructed in his usual dry tone. Bee's servos whined in acknowledgment. He hated that he couldn't help. The number of soldiers went up to fifty-two. Mikaela stood and dusted herself off. She took up the task to help dress their wounds.

The next morning the number of soldiers dropped by seven. By the end of the week they lost nineteen more, but at the same time a considerably large amount of civilians who were fleeing from various locations had taken up residence. Mikaela and a handful of others demanded to be trained how to use a gun. The soldiers ended up being happy to oblige considering what they were up against.

*

"Congratulations, you now know how to shoot a gun."

"Wow, thanks." Mikaela responded a bit sarcastically to Epps's harsh tone. She glared at him trying to figure out why. He glanced around to make sure his captain was out of earshot.

"Not really sure what good it's gonna do you. It's not like we're gonna have enough firepower to take them out." A few days ago Epps had a much more positive outlook that Starscream could be taken out. He really hated that jet. But after seeing how fast the Autobots were healing over a little rest, Starscream would be just as impossible to take out as the first time. Expecially since next time it was guaranteed there would be no aerial firepower. Mikaela stood quietly for a moment. Holstering her gun she motioned for Epps to follow her.

"What about Sector Seven?" Mikaela interrupted Lennox and Ironhide's discussion. They looked at her with confusion. Her barged in question made no sense. She needed to clarify. "We need better firepower, right? Why not go back to Sector Seven. If there is anything anywhere that can stop the Decepticons then it's probably there!" The humans and Ironhide went silent in thinking. Bumblebee however grinded his servos in insult.

Either in Bee's defense or just matter of factly, Ironhide disagreed. "That place was probably the very first place to get hit."

"Besides, we are too far out to simply turn around. And we have people coming in to this area that need help, we can't just desert them!" Bumblebee protested.

"Bee we are out in the middle of nowhere. There are more populated places that could use our help." Mikalea shot back. She refused to believe that playing babysitter to a bunch of refugees was the reason for sticking around here.

"I don't see how we would be more beneficial by heading back towards a desert." Bumblebee's voice was weary but calm.

More discussion took place. For or against the idea they weren't going to move out any time soon. True to Ironhide's word, they would not move until Bumblebee's locomotion was completely restored.

The waiting however, did take it's toll. The passing days made Ironhide very uneasy. He feared the longer time passed, the more Megatron would learn how to use the All Spark to his benefit and the more powerful he would become. Bumblebee's unease grew as he listened to the radio that had reclaimed it's grasp in the human world. He limped up quietly behind Lennox and even though he was crouching, he was hovering over Lennox.

"What miserable piece of earth destroying information do you _have_ to share with us today?" Lennox growled over his shoulder. Lennox looked defeated as he twirled the wedding band around his finger. The grueling reminder that was supposed to be on vacation with his wife and meeting his little girl for the first time. The passing days hadn't been kind to him either. As a result his hostility flooded through him. A gust of air audibly left Bumblebee's vents as his sad optics darted up at Lennox before dropping back to the earth.

"Shoot the messenger." Bumblebee's words were quiet and hurt. Lennox didn't care. He waved his arm in a 'keep it moving' fashion. Bee shifted his weight off of his bad foot and the radio started up. Cautiously quiet at first. The stories that followed told a tale of Megatron traveling to different countries in the world where military power was the greatest and wiping them out. Meanwhile Starscream worked the military over this continent. That really wasn't what concerned Bumblebee. What came out next were the plans to launch a nuclear strike against the metallic creatures. Blood curdled in fear of these plans. Lennox turned and his wide eyes met with Bumblebee's optics.

"Would that kill them?" A civilian who overheard the radio asked with a hopeful tone.

"If anyone used nuclear weapons it could set off a chain reaction. Do you have _any_ idea how many active nukes there are in the world today?" Lennox breathed with a constricted chest. He then growled in sarcasm, "and what's the chance that they'd actually manage to hit Starscream and Megatron anyways?" Lennox spat that out knowing that their maneuvering capabilities would nullify any effects of blowing up entire cities.

"Worse than that, depending on how far away they can detect our energy source, we may be a target."

Fear's tendrils crawled up the humans' bodies. All eyes stared at Ironhide.

"Okaay, Bumblebee. You know that radio idea you wanted to try? I think now may be a good time to test it." The reason why they hadn't tried it yet was because it was almost a guarantee that the remaining Decepticons would converge and attack on their location. Since this place was being converted into a refuge, nobody liked that idea. Now they were left with no choice.

**

They drove a few miles away from the base. It was flat grassy land for miles. The air was cool and dry as the sun slowly made it's way up the pale clear sky. Before them was the only impressive landmark for miles.

"What should I say?" Bumblebee looked up at the huge tower as he stood on the concrete below it.

"Say that a nuclear attack is a bad idea. Tell them what are best weapons are against them, and where their weak points are. Hopefully we can get this out over the world."

Bumblebee nodded he reached up and grabbed the metal struts. Altering and transforming systems inside him to interface with the tower. His calm British accent and soft voice seemed ironic to the broadcast he was about to make.

"People of earth, this is the resistance against the Decepticons and their leader Megatron. You are now all a part of this resistance so please, listen carefully to the information I am about to tell you-"

He started his broadcast in English. He then he recited the speech again in Spanish, French, German, Russian, Arabic and by the time he was getting into his Mandarin his voice began to give out on him. He paused to give his vocals a moment's rest.

"How much longer?" Ironhide didn't intend to sound as impatient as he had, but he was growing paranoid about the amount of time they left themselves out into the open.

"Y- ou could- -help t-too y-know."

"I have no idea what you are doing. Besides you're the best one suited for this anyways." Gruff with a snort. Bumblebee couldn't help but be amused. _The mute. _Leave the communications up to the mute. Bumblebee shook his head. Even Optimus had called Bumblebee to act as liaison with an alien vessel full of humans back when he couldn't speak. He never did understand how such a liability suddenly became a job prerequisite. He struggled with his remaining task. He wanted to do at least five more languages but he had to be content with finishing up the Chinese. His voice was too sore, but he had high hopes that his broadcast would go viral and translated if needed.

**

More days passed. The military complex before them was altering and changing as people eased themselves into place. The people were left without their homes, their safeties were destroyed and their lives filled with so much grief. Regardless they continued to push forward. The same determination that the Autobots put forth to continue with their lives after everything shattered. So far across the universe, yet their perseverance was indistinguishable.

Bee walked forward. His leg was still giving him some problems but in a day the last of his injury would be healed. He knelt down and deposited his gathered materials. The humans were still very weary of his presence but at least they no longer needed to be coaxed out of their fear. To his surprise a young child with bold curiosity approached him. Bumblebee chirped at the boy's presence, but expected him to take a long stare and run back to his parents like many children before him.

"How come you're yellow?" The boy stared at the bot with intense fascination. What a strange question for introductions. Bumblebee looked down at the child as his sensors perked up with mild excitement.

"Because I like the color." Bumblebee knelt closer to him and shifted his weight off his bad leg. His hands braced the ground giving him extra balance. The boy then did another intriguing thing, he closed in on Bumblebee. Close enough to touch Bee's hands. Bumblebee's optics glowed in amusement. "And what is you're name?"

"Matthew." The child replied with an automated tone, he was now too busy climbing up Bumblebee's hand to be concerned with names. Bumblebee's optics widened in surprise, they darted back to the families that stood watching with terror snaking up their spines. He didn't recognize a parental figure that wanted to rush forward and rip the child back to safety. An concerned feeling washed over him. Redirecting his attention at the boy he rotated his hand around and scooped the child up picking him up a few feet off the ground. The child was uneasy at the his sudden new found height. "Whoa, you're really big!" Matthew reached over and grabbed onto Bumblebee's thumb and held tight as he looked down. Bumblebee chirped again trying to wash away his worried expression.

"Yes, I guess I am. My name is Bumblebee." The child was too focused on the distance to the ground to really care. A soft chuckle, then an amused warmth crossed over Bee's voice. "Would you like to be put down?" The child nodded, his grip surprisingly strong. Bumblebee obliged. The child stared at him for a moment, then bolted back to his parental figure.

"Dad! Dad! Dad!" Yelling as he went. It eased Bumblebee's spark knowing he had at least somebody watching over him. There wasn't too many torn families here, but elsewhere he knew that it was a different story. Matthew relayed his entire story in excitement to his father, loud enough for everyone to hear. Bumblebee cooed at the encounter and returned back to handing out supplies. Seeing the Giant display such great kindness, a number of people warmed up to him instantly. Not much long after that, the robots' presence was fully accepted. In fact the people would actively seek out Bumblebee's attention on account of his easy going nature and charm. Bumblebee appreciated this, the new flood of friends gave him the strength he needed to fight back the pain of his own loss.

Ironhide was not so easily swayed by such simple things. While Bumblebee worked to help rebuild shelters and ease people's fears and pain, Ironhide tried to monitor Decepticon activity using any forms of communications he could pull from. One such communication warned him that he wasn't fighting for a greater purpose anymore, just survival.

Another source, the radio suggested that orange fireballs skimming across the sky was a very foreboding sign. Foreboding didn't seem like a strong enough of a descriptor. Ironhide's was able to establish visual on two of them. Too far away to get a proper identification on them but he got all that was needed. To the human's they just looked like shooting stars.

"Decepticon reinforcements." He muttered bitterly to the human soldiers below him. Funny how in the past shooting stars were once considered a good thing. Ironhide glanced back and saw Bumblebee's worried expression.

"Reinforcements?" Lennox stepped forward trying to study the night sky.

"You mean? There's more of those monsters coming to earth?"

Ironhide nodded solemnly.

"What about other Autobots!? Don't you have any reinforcements."

Ironhide sat quietly. Bumblebee whined his servos.

"There was a team that made it to the moon, but, we lost contact with them." Ironhide spoke grimly. The corner of his optics trained on Bumblebee. He hadn't told him yet, but the last communication he had with them informed him that the Decepticons had an active space bridge located on Mars. Decepticon forces could be arriving in mass any time now. By the looks of it, it had already begun.  
__

An hour of stoic silence passed when another fireball plowed through the sky. Not the typical ball of fire, this one had an alien structure to it, regardless, it was coated in fire which told them that it came from outside of Earth's atmosphere. Bumblebee and Ironhide were instantly on full alert. The fire exploded behind it in a burst jetting the shape towards the radio tower's location.

"That wasn't a comet alt." Bumblebee reported. Ironhide nodded. Seeing the humans confusion he clarified.

"Comet mode is for long distance travel. This was a short range alt form. Which means he came from somewhere relatively nearby." At least figuring that nobody would be mad enough like Megatron to travel long spans of space in their jet mode. "Probably Mars."

"Or the moon." Bumblebee included.

Neither being was sure if that was a really good thing or a really bad thing. One was optimistic, the other was very pessimistic. Regardless, it was close enough to have to check it out. The soldiers that could fit in Bumblebee, Ironhide and one other vehicle went with them. Mikaela wanted to go with Bumblebee. It threw up an explosion of tempers from the idea of dragging a civilian to a probable fight. She was left behind.

*

They could see for miles, yet they saw nothing at all. Who ever it was, was hiding, and nobody could see where.

"Above!" A soldier screamed. Optics and eyes jumped upwards to see a cascade of explosions raining down on them. The blasts were powerful enough to rupture the radio tower's base. The force of the explosions then the crackling of concrete blasted caustic fumes into the air. The metal tower swayed and craned. Organic and robotic bodies flung out of the way as a large metal tower cracked into the earth. Before the concussion of energy and noise could die down the Decepticon leapt down onto the metal beams with enough force to crinkle it like foil beneath him. His glowing optics pierced the dust. Something was tossed out of the cloud of smoke. It landed between Ironhide and Bumblebee. They jumped back, expecting more explosions. When a second passed and nothing happening they dared to venture a glance at the object.  
_  
_The moon teams leader's head. Taken as a souvenir for his victory.

_Arcee's head._ Bumblebee's spark seized.  
**  
**"Two left. You're becoming an extinct species Autobots!" Thundercracker amused. Neither Autobot reacted to the severed head like he had wanted or expected. True to Starscream's word, these warriors had worked directly under Optimus Prime. Even if he was gone, these two were too disciplined to leave themselves vulnerable to silly little things like unchecked rage. Fair enough, he relished the challenge. Thundercracker jumped forward, before his body crushed into the grassy earth below him, he twisted and formed back into his jet form. Hot blasts of air as his engines blasted him skywards. He looped and dove, unleashing another barrage of firepower. It tore through the earth and shredded a few humans who weren't quick enough to get out of the way. Both Ironhide and Bumblebee rolled out of the line of fire without so much as a scratch. Three cannons unleashed their fury on the Decepticon. Air wisps trailed behind the alien craft's wings as he twisted out of the way of their flying projectiles. The jet blasted skywards again. Again it rolled and made another sweeping attack, pummeling the earth below him. The jet closed in on the ground again, this time making a charge at the two Autobots. Bumblebee leapt back whereas Ironhide jumped up and grabbed onto the wing. Close range wasn't Ironhide's forte but nobody would be able to do a damn thing while this Decepticon was in jet form. The jet spun, first trying to shake him off, then the jet tried to ram him into the ground. Just what Ironhide wanted. He studied for a weak point on the wing and awaited for his timing. Right as the wing tore itself downwards to push Ironhide into the ground, Ironhide leapt up again, grabbing a new piece of alien structure. His cannon locked in a new ammo charge and he rammed the barrel downward into the jet's wing. Blue daggers shot through and down the metallic wing. The jet screeched and Ironhide shifted his weight, effectively throwing Thundercracker off balance and fully driving the wing into the earth. Ironhide sprang away as Bumblebee launched another volley of yellow energy blasts into the Decepticons body. The humans did what they could to whittle him away with saber rounds. The wing tore through the earth and the robot transformed. Now his other alt form was useless!

He growled. He should have known better. Ironhide was once the captain of the military. It was stupid to think he could just toy with him. He won't make this mistake again! Disregarding the small weak Autobot and the insubstantial humans Thundercracker focused all his attention on the ranged military fighter. He lunged at the Weapon Specialist drawing out his axe. Swiping down, Ironhide rolled out of the way. Upon his return to his feet two cannons unleashed their explosive charges into the Decept's side and back. _Quicker than he looks! _The axe slashed again, barely striking Ironhide across the chest. His companion leapt onto Thundercracker's back. Metal twisted in pain as Bee tore into his body. Thundercracker snarled and back handed Bee with his weapon. Unfortunately missing with the edge so not dealing any effective damage. At least he got the little pest off his back. Ironhide tried to give himself some distance. Thunder wouldn't allow that, he stayed in close combat to give him the advantage. He had another advantage up his arsenal. As Ironhide dodged out of his way yet again, a high pitched shrill screeched into the air. Ironhide dropped instantly to his knees as he tried to block his audio sensors. The humans also gave way to the noise. The closest were so unlucky that blood soon started oozing out of their ears. The axe drove down deep into Ironhide's shoulder and into his chest. Then the Decept ripped his axe back and back handed Ironhide into the air. His body flew and collapsed near Bumblebee. The small Autobot cringed at the audio overload as well, but there was something in his optics that Thundercracker didn't like. He never seen such a look of determination while the crippling attack was in effect. Bumblebee stood tall and suddenly the shrill scream that coated the air silenced. Bee's optics narrowed and he made a charge. Thundercracker, too perplexed with the silence let Bee get too close before countering. By the time he did, Bee had struck him in the face. Thundercracker cut his sonic attack and for a brief second when his was muted, he heard it again, or something like it. He couldn't have known that the scout's fascination with music taught him a thing or two about sound. Coming out of Bee's own speakers was the inverted feed the Decepticon was projecting canceling the two waves out. Before Thundercracker could figure out what had happened, Ironhide recovered. Despite his injury he threw both fists forward and unleashed both rockets. Bumblebee jumped back and launched another six missiles at him. Just as they closed in, Thundercracker realized he not only under-estimated the military captain, but also the scout. The shells exploded across Thundercracker's body with enough force to lock him into stasis. His body crashed to the ground.

Now was the time for rage to take over. Ironhide roared as he bore his fist into Thundercracker's fractured chest crushing the spark once and for all. One Decepticon for five Autobots.

"Bumblebee." Ironhide called out quietly, impossibly soft for the gruff voice. Bee's optics dropped to the ground. No, he needed to be distracted. A good amount of humans were injured badly. He turned away from his leader to pick up the pieces. Ironhide watched grimly as he noticed Bumblebee was avoiding the conflict that was sure to be welling up inside him. Arcee and Bumblebee had grown close since the war started. They were strangers who just happened to be with Optimus when Megatron's army first attacked them. Back at the first signs of Megatron's turn. Over the vorns they had grown very close. An even greater loss for Bumblebee was his great friend Cliffjumper. He was under Arcee's command. Bumblebee and Cliffjumper had been best friends long before the war began. Now Bee's last reminder of his peaceful life was now gone. Ironhide's optics flickered to the torn earth. Everything he had worked for, everyone he took under his wing, destroyed or in shambles. Ironhide vented out steamed air. "I'm getting too old for this."

The human loss was heavier than initially thought. There was no longer need for the spare vehicle. Not that it mattered, it was destroyed during the battle. They drove back in silence. Halfway back to the base Bumblebee and Ironhide picked up Mikaela's presence. Bumblebee opened up his passenger door for her and looked at her in worried curiosity. She stumbled forward as tears streamed down her face. She forced herself into Bee's seat.

"Mikaela!? What happened?"

"Well," she sniffled. "I was mad that you left me behind, I went after you-" She whimpered. Something gravely bad was building up inside her.

"Mikaela!" Bumblebee reprimanded in concern. "What if you got lost or inj-

"The base-" she held her terror at bay but it also constricted her words. Fear struck Bee's spark. "I think they attacked the base! I was far enough away for them to notice me." Seconds passed as horror flooded through the car. Then with an uncanny surplus of energy, it shot through his drive shaft. Such force coursed to the tires that they pitched a squeal into the air before the car caved into the speed. He then tore off down the asphalt.

"Bumblebee wait!" Ironhide commanded. Bumblebee's speed continued to carry the distance between them. "That's an order!" Ironhide yelled. Everything inside Bee protested at the command but red tail lights flooded and he slowed to a halt long enough for Ironhide to catch up. Those were the magic words to get Bumblebee to listen, even in his most non-compliant of times.

They drove side by side until their rangers could scan the base. Six Decepticon drones were indicated. Bumblebee wanted to rush ahead so badly, his engine constantly growling and whining with anticipation. _Only drones._ Ironhide sent Bumblebee an internal communication. Bumblebee had the go ahead to dispatch them without being slowed down by Ironhide's lack of speed. At that tires tore into the grass and dirt, following the closest path between the two points.

Reaching the base entrance, he slammed to a stop and popped his doors open allowing his passengers an escape. Despite his training, his rage was about to be unleashed. The humans got the general idea. They scrambled out and away as dust kicked into the air by his departure. Drones were relatively easy to take out, plus they were scattered across the ruins. Bumblebee went into an impulsive mode. He didn't even bother with his cannon or launchers. He leapt onto his first victim and tore it into pieces with his bare hands. He managed to shred three more before the drones got their wits about them. They converged to attack. Three at once wasn't normally a problem, but Bumblebee had cast aside his precautions for haphazardness. It would have cost him too, if it wasn't for Ironhide intervening.

Six Decepticon drones lay amongst the rest of the death and waste. The world spun as the second wave of destruction took it's toll. Blood, burnt corpses and smoldering ashes. Men, women, even small children who once had such bold curiosity, all snuffed out to nothing. In the center of this spinning world, Bumblebee collapsed to his knees by the force of the gravity.

Day break. The bright cheery sky cast insult on the bleak depression on the earth below. No one had rested or slept or recharged. Weak and weary both mentally and physically. No conversation or proclamations, not even reprimands. What lingered on everyone's mind didn't need to be discussed. Their cause was lost, everyone knew it. All but one. One soul picked himself up the ground. He wouldn't give up. Not yet. He couldn't. He made his way to his leader and bowed. Ceremonial to show respect to the higher ups. He figured he ought to after being so careless the night before.

"Mobility has been restored to a hundred percent, Sir.

Ironhide in return snorted. "Cut the _Sir _crap, Bumblebee!" Ironhide snapped at Bumblebee. Unbelievable that he would approach him like this. His rage boiling to the surface of his voice. His intimidating personality was enough to crack through diamonds. Bumblebee's optics went wide with surprise. Ironhide stiffened, he tried to control his voice so it wasn't as menacing. "We are not soldiers. Not anymore."

Bumblebee reeled, struggled to grasp what Ironhide just said to him. He regained himself, with more determination he spoke with more clarity, "Sir, we can make our approach to the Sector Seven base. We don't know if the place was damaged for sure. We need to at least try!" Ironhide glared away. "Ironhide, please. We can't just do nothing."

Ironhide's optics darted, catching Bumblebee's. He vented and glared inwardly. Bumblebee was teetering on the verge of loosing his hope. Ironhide could see it in his friend's optics. Bumblebee was so close to breaking it made Ironhide cringe. Bumblebee's optimism had always been the strong backbone for their team. Ironhide couldn't bring himself to be the one to break it.

"Alright. We'll go back. Even if the place is wiped out, we may be able to find information we can use." Ironhide forced himself to speak optimistically. Deep down, the only optimism he had left was that when Bumblebee breaks, he wouldn't be around to see it. Ironhide nodded and led them away from yet another shattered hope.

***************

**

"Where the hell have you been!" Marcus raged as he saw Bumblebee approach.

"Reconnaissance." Bee retorted flatly. He glared at Marcus from beneath his battle mask. "Where's Sari?"

"Reconnaissance?" Marcus gawked. A new day, a new set of brash defiance, "You were gone for five days! We thought you walked out on us!"

"I told you I would help you get the energon. I did not think that meant I had to babysit you until then! Where is Sari? I need to know if she has access to a wielding unit."

"You're not going anywhere near her! And there's no way in hell we're going to repair your weapons!"

"Listen to me you little ingrate! I have already set up plans! I have scouted, I have made arrangements, all you had to do was wait for supplies! If you're team can't make up the requirements do _not_ expect me to take the blame if this becomes a failure!"

"What arrangements? Do I even dare ask!? How do I even know these arrangements aren't something like, betr-" Marcus was interrupted by Bumblebee's growl. The mechanical beast hovered over him and looked especially threatening. Marcus figured Bee figured out what he was implying. At this point it seemed wise not to finish his snide remark. "We don't know what the hell you're doing! How are we supposed to work together if we don't know anything?!"

"Because I will tell you." Flatly, coldly.

"And we get no say? Just, I did everything already? We just follow along like the hapless little sheep that we are?" Dripping with bitter sarcasm.

"For this occasion, yes." Narrowing white optic.

Marcus bit into his lip as he glared up at the robot shaking his head. Doubting Bumblebee was going to get anywhere with Marcus, he turned his attention to a group of new faces. "Where is Sari?" His tone was a bit more neutral to these people.

They looked at him in shock. Some mirrored Marcus's disposition of defiance, but appearance and actions weren't the same thing. They then looked at Marcus to see the defiant man who just got snubbed. "I, don't th-" The robot snorted. The speaker's eyes went back to the robot. The hell she was going to push this robot's buttons. She wasn't as crazy as Marcus. "Down the hall to the left!" It was clear the robot wanted through, again they weren't going to take on the robot. The hustled out of the way allowing the robot passage.

"Sari?" He found her as directed. Sari perked at seeing Bumblebee but she wasn't filled with jubilation. His tone of voice nullified any excitement before it was even present. Riley slipped back into a corner.

"Hey! You're back."

Bumblebee nodded. "Where you able to get a hold of a wielder and is it operational?" His voice was trying to be very neutral now. As much as Marcus ticked him off, he didn't want to scare Sari or especially Riley. It troubled him that Riley was already so afraid of him, but after a few days, it wouldn't be an issue.

"Yeah, Teresse was able to help me get it going." Sari nodded to the lady standing in the door. "Just tell me what you need me to do." Sari tried to sound helpful although the base of her voice was shaky.

Bumblebee rotated out his cannon, slowly, "Here." Bee kelt down showing her where it was catching. He put his other hand up to hold her back keeping her body away from any dangerous parts. He then snapped his mechanism fully into place. It snapped sickly. "It's throwing off my aim. I have to overcompensate to correct it. Fine for using against toaster ovens but I can't waste mental resources when dealing with cybertronians."

"Uh okay." She wasn't fully sure what a cybertronian was. She figured she could take a pretty intelligent guess at it though. She looked at the arm carefully. She groaned quietly. "Bee, I'll try, but I think you're giving me too much credit. I can fix things, I don't think I can realign them."

Bumblebee looked on, seemingly unfazed. If Ironhide was around, he'd know how to fix this. But he had to make due with what he has. "Then try. See what you can do."

"Okay." She nodded. She pulled the goggles over her eyes and started the operation. Bee flinched as he was expecting the torch to fire up. "Are you sure Bumblebee?" She didn't want a reenactment of last time.

"It's fine. Keep going."

"You're positive?"

"Sari." Pointedly impatient. She nodded at his demand.

"Can you put it back to where it catches?" Bumblebee nodded and transformed back until the two metal pieces gnashed at each other. "Oh hey!" She perked up catching Bumblebee's curiosity. "I think I might be able to do something. Can you shift the piece over again, so - okay. Yeah I think I might actually be able to help. If anything I'll get it to stop catching like that." She also couldn't help being memorized on how the pieces could rotate over so smoothly like that. To nano-precision even. She doubted she could perfect his aim, but maybe she could shave a little off and his healing could compensate for her lack of ability.

She carefully etched through the metal. Bumblebee seemed pleased that the canon would no longer catching on itself. As she worked on his shoulder cannons Bumblebee sunk himself into stoic determination. The wielder burned and stung but the weapons were too important to cave into such things like pain. Sari did her best to explain to Bumblebee how and why she thought the pieces were broken. After a while it even nudged him out of his stoic disposition.

If only to ask, "How do you know these things?" Really, Bumblebee felt embarrassed that a human girl would know more about his anatomy than he did.

"I uh, took a lot of you're kind apart." She mumbled, not really wanted to express that her interest of dissecting robots was once her hobby. "Humans are pretty good at learning things that way. We break them apart and then put them back together."

"Like Simmons."

Sari and Riley went wide eyed and silent. "Yeah." Sari admitted to him weakly. She tried to hug the giant beast. His optics shifted back trying to figure out what she was doing. She whispered softly, "Bumblebee I am so sorry for what he did to you." The room was silent for a bit longer. Bumblebee's optics steeled over and shifted back to a neutral position.

"Are you almost finished? I need to address everyone. I'd like to give them ample time to study the plan for acquiring energon, so please, concentrate on getting this done."

********

When Bumblebee said he was out gathering reconnaissance, Marcus didn't know at the time that reconnaissance wasn't even a word strong enough to describe the detailed information gathering Bumblebee had done. Now nothing could be said to convince him that Bumblebee was a _civilian _robot. Civilians don't have guns infused in their arms and rocket launchers embedded in their shoulders. Civilians don't have holographic projections of battle plans hidden deep within their eyes or, eye looking thing- light, whatever. The projection was distorted because his one eye didn't work, but what was, was just too detailed to be something a civilian should have or need. His presentation of his infiltration plan, far too organized, too well thought out for some average Joe. Most hunters that Marcus came across weren't even that thorough. The plan was so bold and crazy, but the way it was presented, it came off as crazy enough to work. Bumblebee requested that a large vehicle would be brought with them. He would push it over there as to not alert the seven Decepticons within, and when everyone got everything together, the Decepticons would somehow be so distracted to not notice when they started it and drove off. Seemed fishy but Bumblebee promised that they would _all_ be distracted. He never bothered to mention how though.

Bumblebee would be a serious hunter if he was on the other side. Hell this whole thing made Marcus nervous. And Bumblebee made arrangements. He didn't say with whom. Marcus didn't think this whole elaborate thing would be just to capture a handful of humans. A deep inkling thought that this was such an elaborate scheme to get deep within the walls of City. He couldn't rule it out. Something about this mission just didn't seem right. Something about Bumblebee wasn't right. He really wasn't the soft caring machine Sari so proclaimed to have met. This robot was a war machine!

And now he sat there, waiting. Four hours had passed and everyone was nervous and twitchy. Bumblebee said that waiting would be the hardest thing to deal with. Under all circumstances they must be patient, don't make themselves known and wait for his signal. What signal? Bumblebee had been so vague as to what that was, just 'you'll know it when you see it.' Marcus growled. He could hear the human slaves getting ordered around and treated like shit on the other side of the thick wall. And here they were, sitting there, doing nothing. Waiting wasn't the hardest thing, trusting this robot was the hardest thing to deal with.


	7. Chapter 7

_Arrg! I didn't get a single day to work on either story ALL WEEK. I wanted to get this out like. . .Monday, nope after work, busy. Tuesday? Busy, Wednesday, Busy. Thursday, Busy AND my computer broke! Friday, fix computer, BUSY. ARG. I'll get the other story out soon too, but I think I'm going to be struggling with future chapters for a while. (I write ahead, so I'm catching up and Next week, Busy! Plus my next three weekends are going to be away from any computer so . . yeah.) Sorry :(__  
_

*********

Bumblebee slunk into the deepest of shadows. So far everything was going as well as he could hope for. His cannon whirled in and out of form without complications. The weapon was satisfactory operational. Some functions of his rocket launcher was impaired, but overall just having some operation was a plus. With the help of Sari, he was able to get the distorted shells out of their sleeves. New ones regrew in place, hopefully with enough function to use them like their intentions. His sensors flooded his processors. Marcus and his team of humans had their vehicle hidden among the rubble along the East side of the complex. So far, they were doing as they were instructed. The Decepticons hadn't become privy to their activities. And the humans hadn't done anything enough to call attention to themselves. To a Decepticon, humans were nothing more than vermin. As long as the slaves continued to work, the others went unnoticed. Bumblebee's biggest fear was the humans and their sense of defiance. He was counting on so many, it only took one to screw up the whole thing, and he knew that none of them trusted him, outside of Sari. Marcus was especially troublesome. He left details vague in certain regards, some for his own personal reasons and others to keep them from acting out upon their defiant behaviors. Of course being obscure didn't allot any trust either. Stakes were high, he-they only got one chance at this. He focused to keep his stress at bay, although surprisingly, he was in a strange sense of ease. His optics gazed to the people inside the complex. The stress wasn't wearing so kind to their bodies and minds. It was visible to even his scanners at this distance. At the first sign of the shipment's approach the human slaves were, for the first time since being here, in high spirits. Now they slunk away into their usual hopelessness. The yellow robot had recruited them in his plan. The trade off was giving them a chance of liberation. With no yellow robot in sight, their faces furrowed the betrayed gloom. The same old feeling of helplessness returned, herded worse than animals with sharp prods and lashing strikes as they were forced to work towards their deaths.

On both sides of the walls the dissidence grew.

"Alright Marcus? Where the hell is he?"

"A sick joke! That's what this is!"

"You didn't really think he was actually going to help us did you?"

"What is he waiting for!?"

Slowly and surely all the shipment was being carried away from the transport vehicles and lined up in front of the one wall in storage. Finally, all the trucks except for one had been emptied. Bumblebee slipped out of his hiding spot and slid along the wall outside of the slave masters' view. He did yet another scan of his allies in hopes that everything was in place. The dissidence so far, hadn't caused any problems. He was grateful for that. He reached a point in the wall that would give him a clear point of view to the cubes of energon. He leapt up to the top of the wall. He lifted himself out of his crouch and nonchalantly walked along the ledge as he examined the scene before him. As he slowly walked into place, the slaves below caught sight of his approach. They slowly and cautiously evacuated the area heading back towards the last remaining cargo-filled truck. The Decepticons snarled at the human's mass resistance to their commands. They threatened and growled until one glanced up to see a certain yellow Autobot standing out in the open over-looking them. A chatter of surprise and an alert to the defiant little insect. The seven Decepticons strolled out to view the Autobot.

"Back so soon Autobot?" The metallic facial structures twisted in amusement.

"Aww did you miss us!?" Another Decept hissed in laughter.

"Would have thought Megatron learned you a lesson!"

Bumblebee continued to stroll along the edge barely even acknowledging the Decepticons who were heckling and catcalling him. Some were shouting at him in English, others in Cybertronian, all were amused by the Autobot's actions. If he wanted punishment, they would gladly deliver. They flexed their claws, whirled their cannons and awaited for the Autobot to do something. Really what could he do? He had no weapons and he was gravely outnumbered. Bee stopped his saunter and looked the Decepticons over. Another examination of who and what he was up against. Once upon a time civilians who sided with the Decepticons. Non of them were militarily trained, otherwise they wouldn't be doing such a lowly positioned job. Not that the most callous of them minded scaring and pummeling small organics into submissiveness. How time had warped their ethics. Bumblebee grated.

Then before they could finish their calls or react otherwise, he flicked his arm up through the air, in a smooth action his cannon spun and launched a shot of energy before his arm's motion ceased from the momentum. The fiery bullet plowed through the wall of stacked energon. It caused the cubes and containers to burst open letting blue and clear liquid swim over the broken crates like water over a cascade. The shear density of the liquid made it glow brightly and the blue drifted away leaving a river of dancing rainbows to coat the ground. The Depticons all ceased at once and turned in dumbfounded horror as they watched the energon waste away into the soil. Bumblebee's optics flickered watching it waste into the ground, but decided he'd rather it get wasted rather than be in the hands of the Decepticons. They stared, their demonic anger had yet to bypass their shock. One by one heads returned back to the lowly Autobot standing on the ledge. All optics gaped in shock. Bumblebee looked back at them, his mask pulled back, he shrugged innocently.

Shock ceased, howls of anger erupted. They began their charge at the Autobot. Before they could get too far, Bumblebee's shoulders opened, two sets of three missiles blasted through the air, striking the molten pool of energy. An energon explosion ruptured the landscape. Everything washed out with light and fire engulfing the Decepticons and over the wall, coating the nearest vehicles. The air hung heavily with the scent of ozone. Past the explosion, Bumblebee heard the sound of a grisly vehicle start its engine. No, not yet! It's too soon!

Optics darted to see the human slaves work to pry the doors open of their enclosure. At their digression, they instead decided to ram the door apart with the vehicle. No, no! Stick to the plan! Not with the energon on the back!_ You people are fools! You just seen how explosive it is!_

Bumblebee optics frantically darted back to his enemies, he lifted his cannon and started pummeling the emerging Decepticons. Now he had to wait before fleeing to make sure none wised up to the humans actions. Luckily for the humans, Decepticons burst forward with so much rage that they failed to notice them departing in the vehicle with energon strapped on the flatbed. Bumblebee _did _promise that they would _all_ be distracted. Bumblebee nodded to himself before he finally jumped off the ledge. Too late to avoid the onslaught of missiles and explosions. Luckily, he slipped by with nothing fatal or crippling. That would have been a short trip otherwise.

"You little bastard! I'll kill you!"

The Decepticons bounded over the wall.

Clicking and clanking the Camaro didn't get his head start like he had really hoped for. Now he had seven very, very angry Decepticons at his tail pipe. Just because they were once civilians that in no way made them less dangerous, just more disorderly, he hoped. He floored it out of the area. To add to his wretched plan gone array, two were obviously faster than he was. It didn't help that he barely had the energy from recovering from last weeks incident. That's okay though, it was included in the plan. The only thing he really had to worry about was paying back the energon. He internally flicked on the radio, to keep an sensor on how the humans were doing. He took a heavy hit on his left, rear wheel hub, enough to send his front end in an unintended direction. The blue Hummer who crashed into him howled with excitement.

"_Tst_, please." Bumblebee rolled into the misdirection and sped off towards a new direction, out maneuvering the bulkiest of seven. Good thing too, him and a large Dodge Ram were intending on crushing the Camaro between them. Bumblebee plowed through the rubble that partially obscured the roadway. Three big vehicles behind him crashed through the obstacles with better proficiency, behind them roared the two sportier vehicles gracefully slipping around the big wigs and closing in on Bumblebee. He grated as they blew past him and twirled around to box him in. Bumblebee sped up and took the smaller of the two, crashing into him to break himself an opening. Pain rocketed through his body as the other one tried to intervene to stop him. The Camaro swerved just in time to miss the Hummer smashing into him. _That would have been bad!_ The gold Corvette yelped at the close approximation the Hummer came to crushing him as well. Bumblebee put on the speed, plotting out all his predetermined travel courses. He needed them to follow him for a while before he could attempt to loose them. Touch and go. He couldn't let them get so close that they could catch him and he couldn't loose them until after the humans cleared out. Damn the luck! He knew letting the humans go so impatient would be harmful to the plan. He spun into a hard right bypassing the fallen traffic lights and abandoned non-mutated cars. Tires squealed as they tried to grip the road. The two sports followed easily as did the Hummer and one other truck. The old muscle car wasn't quite used to his own weight as he nearly spun and cracked into a building. A liability. Bumblebee accessed the car's condition. His armor would be tougher to imitate the old metal structure of those cars. Okay, not as much as a liability as he hoped for. He'd have to loose him over a tight turn somehow.

The sports ran in front of him again, this time one spun around and began a game of chicken with Bumblebee. Right directly behind Bumblebee was the Hummer. _Great. _Regardless if he could take on the hit from ahead, he would be totaled from behind. He needed to take care of these fast cars first! Processors running, reducing the track on the other four cars, never wise, but he didn't have a choice. Wheel turned sharp, car body rotated, and his engine NOSed it. Not the nitrous oxide systems that were specially placed in flaunty vehicles, his was alien, and much more superb. But unfortunately, not unique to him alone. He jumped over a broken road and into an old store. Crashing in through the once windows he flinched in irritation as the sports cars were still keeping up with him. He really hoped that one would be scrap metal right about now! Processors on-lined to all vehicles again, another two had already countered his change in direction. _Damn these scrapheaps aren't half bad!_

_"_I bet you're regretting what you've done now! That ain't nothing! Wait til we catch you!" The purplish Lexus growled relishing the rush he was getting. Bumblebee tried to get more speed. They sped up, eager to pass him and cut him off. Bee cut the extra energy and slammed to a stop. They overshot him, he turned and launched to a new direction. Before he could make it out of the doors he felt and impact throw him off a bit. He bit down on his gears at the pain but he continued forward. If only to have the Hummer waiting for him on the other side of the spider-webbed glass doors. Bumblebee had to be far enough away from the slave yard by now to start planning an effective 'get these guys off my six'! He barely slid past the Hummer. Glass shards glistened the air as he cleared mere inches on the blue beast. First he made sure he was still being followed by all seven Decepticons. Sure enough he was. And he was able to pick up who the three slowest were. Nearest course plotted, he swerved left. As soon as he got the chance, he had to skim through the process he was running on the radio, damn if he didn't have the thinking capacity to do it now. If only he could just project it on speakers and let his audio receptors catch it, but then that might openly advertise the Decepticons that he was being a purposeful distraction.

Bumblebee sped up on the twisting on-ramp of a tattered parking garage. To his amusement, the sports cars were first on his tail. The gold one was directly behind him. Bee slammed into reverse crushing into the front of the gold Corvette. The Corvette yelped again. Bee sped off, amused as ever, disregarding his now very achy back end.

"I'll kill you!" The gold sports car snarled.

#Hit me with your best shot! Why don't you hit me with your best shot?# Bumblebee blared out his radio in quip. The Corvette growled. Before regaining speed and laying waste into Bumblebee, an explosion fired off from inside the damage. An explosive modified missile that Bumblebee laid for him when he had crashed into him. Bumblebee fled forward hissing in laughter as he went.

#Got a green light, gotta green light yeah; But I'm going nowhere; Gotta green light, gotta red light yeah,#

Racing up to the tight spiral. Now he found himself on top of the roof.

"Nowhere to go Autobot scum!" The vehicles plowed out to the roof as well.

#No cop no stop, I don't care;# The Camaro spun to face them down.

#Every one of you could be the same; Every one of you could play the game;# Bumblebee one-eightied and plowed through the barrier and off of the roof. The other cars hung back to watch the crazy yellow fly downwards. #Gotta green light, gotta green light yeah; But you're going nowhere#

"Damn you!" They hissed. Bumblebee bounced onto the roof of another building and continued to zip down the concrete path.

#You know the best things in life aren't for me; You know the best things in life aren't for free; You know the best things in life aren't for me; You know the best things in life aren't for free;

Gotta new life, gotta new plight yeah; And its going nowhere; On a mountaintop like a pin drop yeah; No god no thought, I don't care;#

Clearing over the one building, the Decepticons now had to catch up. Bumblebee ramped off of this building and transformed as he made his way into another building that was nearly all but gutted out. In his sights was the hole opening up to the human underground tunnels. Big enough for a cybertronian his size to squeeze through. Optics widened, he cursed to himself.

The radio died as did Bumblebee's spark signature. The Lexus and Corvette took to the challenge to roof jumping. They transformed and overlooked the building where Bumblebee had disappeared. They bounced around the concrete making their way down to the floor level. They sneered. _He thinks he's so cleaver._ Right away they spotted the human tunnel. They slipped down into the tunnel and ran after the Autobot as fast as their bipedal legs carried them.

"Stop you fool!" The Lexus grabbed the Corvette's shoulder.

"What?" The gold Decepticons snarled.

The Lexus stared at the blue gray lines ahead of him. "He didn't go this way!"

"What? What do you-" The corner of his optic caught a curious little orange flag. Teetering on that flag was a modified missile shell. The fins on the device flicked inwards causing it to loose balance. One set of optics widened, the other was oblivious.

_'Please work!' _Bumblebee clenched everything to keep a focus on the most modest of sensors that were nestled inside his external weaponry. As he focused a command to alter the fins, the walls sprayed into the air around him. He must have let his nullifyer slip. He re-focused scanners just in time to see the Hummer robot bull-rush into him. They crashed down hard into the ground. A heavy fist drove into Bumblebee's back, as Bee rolled trying to get to his feet. The Hummer threw his weight into Bumblebee to hold him down. Optic behind the mask fixed up to the Blue Hummer's face. Bumblebee twisted to escape the weight but he still failed to escape the grapple. Two others descended on him, grabbing him at his shoulders. Before they could pin him, the after-shock of the spark disruptor washed over them. The horribly seizing pain lashed at their sparks, Bumblebee forced himself to kick free from his captors. He plucked another missile from his rocket and left it behind. He stumbled away, trying to transform but his spark wouldn't permit the energy to do so. The unsettling familiar sizzling washing over his body. Bee doubled over and continued to stumble away. He triggered the explosion to go off, but the external's sensors had been damaged. It was a dud. Looking back, the Hummer made his way to his feet. He was managing the festering pain better than Bumblebee was. Bee forced his stumble into a run. The Hummer started clicking and ticking behind him. Bee couldn't let himself get outrun by a brick on wheels! Bumblebee forced his transformation, fighting the spark and it's want to throw him into stasis.

The Camaro rolled out through the streets once again. The Hummer was hot on his tail, as was a Mini cooper, and an old Oldsmobile muscle car. The two trucks were still fighting the effects of their seizing sparks. A new brash set of confidence made Bumblebee purr. He took out the two speedsters! Now he could feasibly outrun these slower vehicles! If only. His spark was too unsettled. He couldn't flood his engine with alien speed. They could! Bumblebee yelped as the Oldsmobile crushed into his back bumper. Both bodies crumpled from the impact. The Cooper rolled to his right side blocking his escape. In hell bent frustration, Bumblebee jammed his wheel smashing into the side of the Cooper's body. The Mini didn't even seem phased by the impact, even though Bee almost got him to break formation. Bumblebee grated, this time with even more force he slammed into the Cooper. Still the Cooper wouldn't even utter a sound. So he was either mute or forgot what his sensors were used for. Before Bumblebee could slip through the opening he created, he squawked loudly as the Hummer decided to give him the same treatment. His body was then sandwiched between the Hummer and bricked slab of wall. Bumblebee forced his way past the building. His body screeching against the brick sandpaper as he did. He slipped to the right down the road to try and flee but his spark surged out too much pain from the stress. He was unable to give him much for leeway against the blue beast. The Cooper slipped up to him to keep him distracted as the Ford pickup and Dodge caught up. The Ford slammed into the right side of Bumblebee. While Bee skidded on his tires sides, unable to do anything, the Dodge flew behind him. The Cooper slid into the front to prevent Bumblebee from racing forward. Bumblebee growled and threw a fit of curses to himself. Then as expected, more impacts abound. From the left and from the right, effectively vicing him in. He was surrounded. They must be planning something! As they traveled forward Bumblebee took a moment from trying to smash his way free to look straight ahead. A jagged metallic spear stretched to the skies ahead of him. Cybertronian in design, it protruded knife-like edges. A communication rod, planted out in the middle of a road way. Behind him the Dodge pushed him forward, forcing Bumblebee to go faster.

They were trying to force him to plow through it. Bumblebee tried to break but the Dodge continued to thrust him forward. Bumblebee couldn't go right because the Ford was blocking his path, he couldn't go left, oh hell no, no way could he get past the Hummer and straight ahead of him was blocked as well. Bee snorted.

Regardless of what he was going to do, it wasn't going to be pretty. His spark recovered just enough to flood his engine with better than NOS speed. His best option was to take on the Mini Cooper. He rammed and pushed it forward, the Cooper braked, the Dodge sped forward ramming the both of them forward. Bumblebee gawked out in pain and his speed died down inadvertently. Bumblebee found himself uncomfortably in the center. The jagged blade was coming up fast. The Cooper broke away, not wanting to feel the impact first, Bumblebee tried to ride his bumper to escape behind him. The ford rolled forward and into him to prevent it. Bumblebee snarled._ Fine be that way!_ He pulled back and vamped up the speed even more, strolling up on two wheels. He was quickly knocked down by another vehicle. _Damnit!_ Bumblebee blasted forward. No calculations were in his favor, he'd loose a wheel on this one. Edging to take the least amount of damage his front bumper and wheel ripped into the thick metal structure. Burning and tearing his wheel apart so fast he barely had time to flinch. But now he was ahead of the vehicles just barely, and not for long now that his tire was shredded. The Oldsmobile struck him trying to make him loose control. Bee spun on his wheels and used the Oldsmobile's attack against his intentions. Bumblebee rolled into it, turning him into an opposite direction. Screeching tires and throwing asphalt in the air, he tore down the street. Passing them all, he screeched to the right. The heavy vehicles all slammed on their breaks and pathetically tried to turn around but they were too close to each other to do so effectively. Bumblebee threw lots of curses at himself now. He replotted his course. He had no way of running or out maneuvering the bigger lugged vehicles now. As luck would have it, he was now in the near vicinity to the Outpost Nine tunnels. He didn't feel like it was lucky enough to be cheerful about it. He heard that conversation Marcus had. Disbanded probably meant the tunnels would be empty. Well if anything, no humans will get hurt. He turned down a new direction, the other vehicles were hot on his trail and edging up fast. A large hole in the ground, Bumblebee banked and crashed in the ground below. Pain shooting up through all his joints and especially from his tire area.

Indeed his pool of luck seemed to have run dry. The hole was easily big enough for the other vehicles to slip into. Fret now flooded his spark worse than the pain. This was _not_ the time for second guessing his plan. Damnit to hell! What was he thinking? Well there wasn't anything else to do but focus on his sensors that were monitoring the radio signals. He switched processing power over and cringed with anticipation. Please don't have this all be for nothing! He went through the conversations that had went on, fully aware of the Decepticons approach even though he didn't have sensors focused on him. Conversation after conversation, Bumblebee's disappointment could almost be seen on his car's form. They were speaking in code, he had no idea how well the plan went. They were yelling and screaming. Either it worked fantastically or it went horribly wrong. There was another frantic conversation on another channel. For a moment it peaked his interest.

_#Movement! Ol' boy was right!#_

His trunk buckled. The Ford giving him a reminder of what to expect. Pain. Frustration. Bumblebee vented air, if he kept getting hit like this, he won't be able to transform to give them a decent fight. Scratch that, he was pretty sure he alone couldn't take on five Decepticons at once who were bigger than him. The realization was aggravating. The pain was aggravating. Bumblebee pulled a song from his memory to blare over the radio. At least it will give him something else to concentrate on.

#Reluctantly crouched at the starting line; Engines pumping and thumping in time; The green light flashes, the flags go up; Churning and burning they yearn for the cup-

They deftly maneuver and muscle for rank; Fuel burning fast on an empty tank; Reckless and wild, they pour through the turns; their prowess is potent and secretly stern

As they speed through the finish, the flags go down; The fans get up and they get out of town; The arena is empty except for one man; Still driving and striving as fast as he can#

Bumblebee swerved out of the Hummer's slaughtering attack. That was the last of that, forward was the only direction that was open now. The rest were placing themselves to box him in again. These guys really were as good as Bumblebee was hoping they weren't.

#The sun has gone down and the moon has come up; Not long ago somebody left with the cup; But he's driving and striving an hugging the turns; And thinking of someone for who he still burns;

He's going the distance; He's going for speed; She's all alone, all alone, all alone in a time of need#

Giving into the music, Bumblebee decided that he should at least give them a run for their money. He did a poor job at it so far.

#Because he's racing and pacing and plotting the course; He's fighting and biting and riding on his horse; He's going the distance.#

_#Converge, corridor seven. Hodges, warm up that ice!#_ Humans and their code. What a waste of processing power. Bumblebee discontinued his attention to the human channels.

Speed flooded, cascading turns were made. The best of maneuvering with only three wheels.

#No trophies, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no lime; He's haunted by something he cannot define; Bowel shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse; Assail him and impale him with monster truck force#

Bumblebee banked into a turn. They were still hot on his tailpipe. The music wasn't enough to improve his mood. This was so stupid!

#In his mind he's still driving, still making the grade; She's hoping in time that her memories will fade; 'Cause he's racing and pacing and plotting the course; He's fighting and biting and riding on his horse#

Grief welled over his spark. Sensors picked up the five vehicles. As much as he willed them out, they were still there.

#The sun has gone down and the moon has come up; Not long ago somebody left with the cup; But he's striving and driving and hugging the turns; And thinking of someone for who he still burns;;

'Cause he's going the distance, He's going for speed; She's all alone; All alone; All alone; In a time of need#

Part of the plan? What was going on through you're processor you lug head!?

#Because he's racing and pacing and plotting the course; He's fighting and biting and riding on his horse; He's racing and pacing and plotting the course; He's fighting and biting and ridding on his horse; He's going the distance; He's going for speed; He's going the distance, ahh ah.#

Two gray lines beamed crossed the passageway ahead. The plastic flag lazily shined at the most subtle of light.

At least he could hope that this would take them out as well. That's something to look forward to right? Right? Stupid, Bumblebee. Real stupid!

They didn't seem to be savvy enough to realize what those lines represented. This was it. Just as his sensors locked in on the beams they disappeared, just nano seconds before crossing over them. Horror crossed over him. His spark stasised

"No!" The words of defeat left his voice. What happened to the trap? Where did it go!?

"Yess!" The hummer purred behind him. Bumblebee loosing himself at the hopelessness of taking the others out with him, suddenly found himself, screaming, as his body was getting pushed forward by somebody with more momentum and power than he.

"Ugn!" Bumblebee tried to roll out of the way. Not death like this! Who knows how long he would have to suffer before his release. His body slipped going perpendicular to the blue beast, and his wheels couldn't grip the ground below him. Before Bumblebee realized it, the Hummer had smashed him into a wall. Hard enough to crumple his metal. Hard enough to hurt like hell. Not hard enough to kill him. Loosing his voice in a fit of panic, Bumblebee warbled out in terror. He transformed out of his alt form as fast as his points of articulation could allow him. Just as his last piece was in place he felt a crushing grasp in his shoulder, knocking him solidly into the wall.

"You are going to pay for what you've done!" The Decepticon screamed at him. Bumblebee was smashed into the wall again. Bee didn't have time for his mask, they could see his look of horror on his face. What happened to the trap!? The only thought that could formulate over his processors. Everything else was taken over by fear.

A right hook clubbed over his face so hard he could feel the metal break on his face. The others grabbed onto him and he could feel them tearing at his body. He hissed out in pain as he desperately tried to break away from them. He was dragged back. The Hummer threw another fist deep into his metal. Pulling back his hand, he twisted it until a spiraled blade formed. It menacingly hovered over Bumblebee's face.

"I'm going to cut you into pieces you worthless-" an explosion and a blue wave across his face interrupted his promise. The blue mech collapsed. That was the start of an abrupt explosion of fire power. The deafening crackling caused all the Decepticons to jump back in surprise. Bumblebee was too dazed to be excited. His head dropped down to see a man with a rocket launcher at hand. Bumblebee recognized the man. Nick.

"Come on big yellow! Get out of there!" Nick hollered at Bumblebee. Someone else was behind him lifting another shell into the chamber. Behind them were twenty or so people firing into the Decepticons around him. Bumblebee glanced around, but chaos made it difficult to get an instant pin.

"Keep 'em in place! Keep 'em in place! Don't drop the ice on them yet!" Someone screamed. There were nearly fifty freedom fighters flanking the five conscious cybertronians. Shotguns assault rifles and the occasional rocket launcher with pulsing blue auras of energy at impact made for a more even fight. The yellow robot was being spared by such attacks.

Bumblebee threw himself into a crawl towards Nick. Getting out of the grips of the Decepticons, who had begun to launch their firepower back at the humans who were well hidden by side passageways, Bumblebee tried to make his way to his feet. A well placed swing caused his feet to give out from under him. He nearly crashed onto his human allies.

They sneered out curses as he fell over them. But using the last of his processing power, Bumblebee propped himself up to keep himself from landing on anyone.

"Let's go!" Nick yelled at Bumblebee. Unable to do anything physical to help him, he waved his hand in front of Bumblebee to encourage him to move. Bumblebee slipped forward on his arms. Explosions racketed around him. He remembered he had three explosives left from his missile modifications. He ejected them out of his system and armed one into his cannon. He launched. Another explosion. Nick grabbed at his cannon. "Move your shiny metal ass! _NOW!_ We got this!" He demanded ferociously turning his eyes back to glare at the Decepticons. Bumblebee pulled himself over and attempted to get up again. This time measly making his way to his feet. He limped away. Back towards the other end of the cave like wall. The tunnel split to the right. Bumblebee glanced back to see another set of blue gray lights from the way he had came. It was the humans who had control of the laser beams. His optics settled on them as they worked to widdle away the Decepticons. The humans turned back and threw an impatient glare at him. Bumblebee ducked behind the wall.

"Alright ice these bastards!"

Pins were pulled and grenades were thrown at the Decepticons' feet. Pulse disruptor grenades. Explosions and waves of white light flooded the halls. Large metal bodies slumped to the floor. Humans with their guns ran up and riddled their chests' with holes. Just to make sure.

Triumph and victory emerged from their lungs. Nick and a good deal of other humans rushed back to check on Bumblebee.

"That's five Muther ruckers! Haha! We gotchu, we gotchu!" Ecstatic screams echoed down the tunnel.

"Damn." Nick picked himself up off his feet and walked away from the yellow robot.

"Five! Can you believe that shit?"

"Six." Nick snarled. The women's face was struck with stupor.

"Damn. Are you sure? You check for a pulse?" She walked back towards the yellow robot.

"Pulse? They don't have a pulse!"

"Sure they do." She turned to look at the big metal beast. She went still with awe. Not awe over his size, she personally dropped bigger. Instead it was just strange to think that a robot such as this was on their side. Farther examination proved how hazardous it was for him to be on the wrong side. His body was riddled with punishment. "Damn." She didn't bother to check for a spark pulse. A big gashed hole in the car front told her it was probably pointless.

"Well you can't say we didn't try." Nick muttered behind her. He sighed out frustration. As did a half a dozen other people as they all milled around the yellow bot.

"The eyes!" Someone whispered. The crowd looked up to see a faint glow coming from one of them. They intently studied the robot. His one optic looked vaguely blue. Did that mean it was alive? They stood around in long silence. Without any other hints of life, a strange voice spoke out quietly.

"I thought this Outpost disbanded." Bumblebee's voice was weak.

"Disbanded?" A pause in thought. "No, we never disbanded." A longer pause to study the robot. "We withdrew our support from Simmons. After we conned some pretty new toys from him. I guess that qualifies as disbanding now." Laughter from the comment.

"Simmons probably started the rumor. After we told him where he could stick his extractor." The man chuckled. "Heh, asshole arrested Captain over that one. Heh. Ah. Funny shit."

"Hey, yellow?"

Bumblebee closed his apertures as he could feel the dull throb run over him every time his spark fluttered. He wasn't sure how many more after shocks from those spark disruptors he could take. Two after shocks within the last few minutes and his felt like his spark was about to give out. The pain didn't defuse. His optics opened weakly to look himself over. He could really use a medic. He hurt like hell. He really needed a recharge, but he didn't want to risk it in case his spark fizzled out on him. He heard of it happening before. And if any time it felt like it could happen, this was it. So instead he tried to pick himself up to his feet. He had to brace himself up on the wall. Apertures closed again, still trying to block out the pain that he could feel over the numbness.

"Well lets go see how the kid did."

Bumblebee closed down his circuits that were emitting pain. Unfortunately the biggest source of pain was directly from his spark. Something he obviously couldn't shut down. He slowly put one foot in front of the other. He really did want to know if the plan was successful. He put a lot of work into that plan. Even som- _Don't focus on the plan, focus on the result._ Did he fulfill his obligation? Apertures opened, allowing the faint light in.

* * *

"Marcus, what the hell is this?" The man pick up an energon cube and dropped it off the pickup onto the old dust floor. It made a loaded thunk as the dust was too thick and sludgy to kick wildly into the air.

"That's an energon cube." Marcus remarked walking back towards the large truck. "Bumblebee said these things would hold three times as much as the canisters." Marcus studied the swirls of light that bounced off the six walls.

"tsk, great. And how exactly are we supposed to use it?" The man kicked at the force field holding the fuel at bay. The rainbow inside rippled to the effect. "We don't know how to open these."

"Sure, we do." Marcus heaved the cube to his chest. The thing was a lot heavier than the canisters. Bumblebee was probably right. "Grab me a basin or something will ya? I wanna see just how much these suckers hold!" A large metal tub was dropped down and announced. Marcus carefully set the energon cube inside. "Okay," he groaned, reaching his back to it's neutral position. He tapped the top of the cube in the center and wrote out the symbol Bumblebee taught him. He stood confident even though internally he half expected this not to work. "Just like," the pattern was finished and he lifted his finger away, "that." He stepped back, "I sure hope this works."

Eyes glanced at him. _Hope?_ Then turning back to the basin they gawked. The symbol that Marcus drew on the top glowed and shot rays of light out. The light drew lines out and they spiderwebbed down the sides. As they reached the under the cube, the basin began filling with bright blue and rainbow clear energon. The liquid continued to rise. Eyes glanced at each other. It still rose. Everyone jumped back with yelps of surprise as the energy flooded over the side. The energy still flowed over, not stopping until the ground was wet and sticky with a deep saturated pool of liquid energy. The useless dirt sheened white. It was wasted energon but the group couldn't suppress their laughs of joy. The humans were skeptical when Bumblebee was very specific that they gathered cubes over the canisters. When they protested, Bumblebee explained carefully and in depth how to use the more efficient storage units. Alien technology after all. And now-

"That's more like, five times!"

"Look at that shit! Two of those cubes would be more than enough for Simmons's weapon! And you got damnear fifty!"

"Holy shit." Marcus drew in a long flat voice.

"Geez, we have enough energon to fortify entire cities. Even if Simmons's weapon doesn't come to term, we could use this to fortify a new city. One above ground!"

More yelps and screams and silly dances of joy from the Freedom Fighters. Behind them were not freedom fighters, but men, women and children that they just freed. They didn't really pay too much attention of the talks of energon. They were just excited enough to be free and away from their horrid metallic masters.

***

They wrapped their way through the tunnels. It was a long walk. Some of the cloudiness dissipated inside his internal sensors, but the worry about his spark did not. He hadn't been in these tunnels before, then again in the past these tunnels were blocked off to him by the blue gray laser traps. They were wide open to him now. With a flick of a button no less. Not that he dared to walk past the little orange flag without some coaxing first. Sure he could see the gray lines were gone, but he still didn't want to take that chance. The humans reassured him, though and by the fifth flag he was able to get past his fear. He still made sure that the humans effectively disabled the traps. Little remote controls with on and off switches. Now that he saw the wavelength used to control it, he had the option to disable them and re-enable them on his own. That might come in handy later. They left the rocky caverns for a more concrete looking landscape. Segments of underground building had been converted into underground bases. Through a large doors cheering and laughter was thundering out into the hollow halls.

Nick pulled up his radio and brought it up to his face. "Honey! I'm home!" He called out cheerfully.

#Hey, who is this?#

"Outpost Nine. Marcus is expecting us."

The cheering continued, but the radio was silent. Two minutes past then there was the sound of groaning from something heavy. Then clicking and unlocking the double doors started to open. Light poured through the widening crack from the room into the tunnel way. The light illuminated the Outpost Nine warriors and the large yellow robot who stood at the center of them.

"Hey! Welcome to the party!" They were greeted enthusiastically. Smiles and cheers fell silent as they gazed upon the massive metallic beast on the other side of the door. For some, this was the first time their eyes gazed upon the metallic creature. For others they were still awestruck and intimidated. Sure he supposedly helped get the energon, what's to say he didn't want to steal it back for himself?! Bumblebee stepped forward to get a better view. He had to duck as he passed through the door. The crowd backed away. Their smiles ceased to make up the astonished gapes and glares of caution on their face. Bumblebee's optic gazed over them. _A simple thanks would be nice._ He vented sharply.

The room was very large. Must be a basement from a rather large building. What was even more impressive was that his place was nearly packed full of people. Closest to the door was the fighters. Men and women armed and armored to the teeth. Behind them were people who barely held on to the tattered cloths they had. An empty truck one that carried the weakest and injured of slaves, and a truck still loaded with energon. Bumblebee's eased his shoulders back into a more comfortable location. The undertaking was a success!

"I understand everything went as well as I have suggested?" Bumblebee got a fix on Marcus. He huffed out a sarcastic laugh, edging Bumblebee to his circuits.

"Damn near perfect." Marcus shook his head. He was glaring at Bumblebee with the look of hostility! Bee twitched, trying to run everything in his processor as to why. He ran all possible scenarios that he could pull up from his memory banks. Nothing seemed sufficient. He grated. Nick approached Marcus and shook his hand. Marcus disengaged Bumblebee and was suddenly in a more uplifted mood at Nick's presence. Bumblebee stiffened. The people around him were cautiously watching him while Marcus was ignoring him. Bumblebee twitched with frustration. He slipped into a corner to try avoiding being the center of attention. The pain over his spark was still bad. It made him nervous. He nearly didn't dare, but he was so exhausted. He closed out some of his systems to put himself into a partial recharge.

"Well you were right, he did head to the tunnels heading for Outpost Nine. How'd you figure?"

"It's what he's familiar with. When he wouldn't say anything about where he was going, I figured he'd either side with the Decepticons, or flee." At that Marcus dodged his eyes back to the giant, wondering if his comment would put him in a tizzy. No light from his optics. "The hell happened to him?" Marcus growled looking over the additional damage on the robot. At any rate he motioned Nick to follow him somewhere farther out of the robot's range.

"What do you think? He tried taking on five Decepticons by himself."

"Seven." Marcus corrected. "Wait- what happened exactly."

"Don't know, cameras we set out didn't catch too much, but he was heading right towards an ice trap."

"He was going to trigger a spark disruptor?" Marcus's brows furrowed. He cursed. "Sari's gonna kill me when she hears about this. Unless you think he's immune to them?"

"Hard to say."

Marcus tipped his head down in thought. Unexplained anger crossed over him. He glanced back up, "Well, enjoy the party. I think we've been deserving something like this for a long time." He gave a warm nod and walked to his comrades who suddenly took a keen interest in removing the cubes from the room. "What's up?"

"Just for precaution." Eyes darted to the robot in silent language.

"Leave one." Marcus turned, but stopped when he acknowledged the apprehensive look in their eyes. "He orchestrated the whole thing-"

"That's why I'm worried."

"Yeah well, if he's on our side, he deserves one." Marcus looked around. "Where's Sari?"

"Getting her hand looked at. Up a floor."

Marcus nodded and strolled away. While some people relaxed and celebrated, others still continued to work. He wanted to find something to do to keep himself busy. For some reason, he just didn't feel like celebrating. And that damn robot was getting on his nerves again. He couldn't really explain why, the thing was in a corner doing nothing! Maybe it was dead, and he was just looking for an excuse to avoid Sari. Whatever.

***

Energon was cleared out. Ex-slaves were cleaned up and moved towards outposts and to a larger extent towards City. Traps were reset with a new deactivation code. In all hours passed, and the large room was nearly vacant when Bumblebee's optic started glowing again.

"What did you do?!" Sari demanded, her voice constricted, sounding ages older than what she usually portrayed. What a way to pull out of a partial. He did almost dip into a full recharge, but scanners and warnings about his spark gave him the better judgment not to. Optic floated over and looked her over. Why was she upset?! He had just helped her get energon! Were humans always this difficult to get a fix on their perceptions? Did it even pay to ask for clarification? Optics hovered past her, to see that there were quite a few warriors still in the area. They were all intently watching him, guns in hand or at an easy grasp. The trucks were gone. Most of the people were gone. The energon was gone. All except for one cube that sat on the floor near him.

"Bumblebee." Sari's stern voice called for his attention again.

"What?" He finally hissed out with irritation.

"What happened to you?"

Bumblebee glanced down at his armor. It was amazing he was even able to transform with his new formed dents. It's something that doesn't get noticed in a fit of panic. Before he could respond, Marcus entered the room. Oddly his presence inquired full attention.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" His presence required it, he didn't.

"What are you going to do about you're robot?" Someone questioned in a low voice. As if whispering, which was pointless with a robot who had the most sensitive hearing out of everybody.

"Uh-"

"I am _not_ his robot." Bumblebee snarled. He pulled himself away from the wall and a step forward. "My obligation has been fulfilled." No farther explanation. Marcus knew what he meant. Bumblebee walked towards the exit.

"Bumblebee! You can't just leave!" Sari protested.

"Watch me."

Marcus sighed in irritation and turned away cursing under his breath. "Let him go Sari. That was the deal." The cube! "Oh hey before you go, this one's yours."

Bumblebee glanced back to look at the block of swirling energon.

"Speaking of energon," another rover went into the standard business as usual routine, "we have the shipment packed and ready to deliver to Simmons. Just give-"

"Simmons." The robot made a noise akin to a snort. All that work, all that risk he took, all for _that _pompous human?! "Of all the humans to survive, I can't believe Simmons was one of them." All that disdain not only dripped from his words, but caused the yellow robot to arch up his body in a threatening manor.

Eyebrows raised in disbelief and misgiving.

"Excuse me?" All around the crowd except for Bumblebee's three known humans, weapons shifted to become threatening. "His weapon is going to save us all."

A hiss of steam from Bumblebee. He almost wanted to laugh. "You're people are worse off than I thought if you think Simmons is your savior."

The humans shifted in unease. "Are you kidding me? That man is the whole reason why we've even had a CHANCE against these monsters!" The fighters weren't too impressed.

But neither was Bumblebee. "Yes, but he's also the reason why those monsters got a hold of the All Spark. He just had to get in the way of everything, him and that stupid secret agency." Bumblebee outright snarled. _"__One_ person out of the whole Sector Seven tried requesting that we work together. One message got to us and then she disappeared! They didn't want to work to protect their planet. They wanted to use the All Spark to their own devices, wanted _us_ for their own devices. They were too busy trying to bring us in for their little experiments that they didn't notice the danger all around them! It was their greed that got us into this mess. Megatron and the cube, in the same building, only separated by a wall!"

For the first time in thousands of years, they finally caught their break. Bumblebee discovered through his scouting the ocular lenses that had coordinates to the All Spark imprinted on them. Then Simmons and his team showed up and everything went to hell. He took Sam, Mikaela and Bumblebee. Optimus was able to salvage the glasses out of the horrible mess. And in the end, it all led to the same place anyways.

"I was taken by them. I ended up finding the All Spark. Right next to the room where they were holding Megatron. Alive! Encased in only a few feet of ice." Bumblebee growled and turned back towards the door.

Although, It really wasn't all Simmons fault. It was a very rare moment for Optimus. Decepticons were mobilizing. The Autobots were so close to their goals, knowing that if they failed what horrors they would- did bring down to the planet. Optimus's rare moment when his patience was breached. He hassled the kid. Sam couldn't think straight because of it. He had difficulties finding the glasses. The Autobots were tripping over each other trying to help. Ironhide tried to lighten the mood, but Optimus took it the wrong way furthering the problems. Even so, Simmons showed up. Stole the children. Made an attack on Bumblebee. And Sam had found the glasses, it wasn't Optimus's patience that thwarted the plan. Still Simmons never harmed Sam or Mikaela, and they were talking to the Secretary of Defense. They were at least- trying. Bumblebee vented and his shoulders drooped.

"Perhaps I'm being too harsh. Simmons was acting out what he thought was best for his species. If only we knew that he was keeping Megatron alive, we could have intervened differently. IF only-" Bumblebee trailed off into his 'what ifs'. What a worthless endeavor. Bumblebee's voice shifted to rage staring at the door ahead of him. "What does it matter? What's done is done." He shot back over his shoulder and looked at the humans. "I helped you get you're energon. Take it to Simmons, and for your sakes I hope your faith in him is valid!" Bumblebee turned back to the door and pried it open. He stormed away.

He was gone. Marcus's eyes dropped to the untouched energon cube. Sari went after him.

*

As he walked down the lonely corridor, his was struck by something. Something that was so light that if it hadn't hit next to the sensors on his head, he wouldn't have even felt it. He turned to see a yellow stuffed animal on the ground. Behind him thirty yards back Sari stood. Her position told him that she was full of intense anger.

"So that's it? You're just going to leave?" A tense restricted voice. His optics narrowed on her. "You don't have to! You can stay!"

"I am _not_ staying!" Bumblebee snorted back. A snarl from under his mask as he looked back at the way he came. Obviously not thrilled with, people.

"Then let me come with you! I told you I'd go with you!"

"You belong with you're own people, Sari. Not robots." He turned to walk away.

"Go on then! Leave! See if I care!" Her cackling scream echoed through the cavern. His spark chamber constricted. He growled and faced her.

"And what makes you think _I care?!_ I don't care about you, or any _other_ of your kind." His words stung. They stung both him and her. But his facial expression were hidden, good thing. It was just better to forget the humans. Again he turned and started walking away. This time he never looked back.

**

_**Songs**_

_Hit me with you're best shot - Pat Benatar _

_The Best things – Filter_

_The Distance - Cake_


	8. Chapter 8

_Yes yes, I'm sure this is now LONG over due. So with just a couple of mentions:_

_Once upon a time I read a story called "Best Laid Plans" by dfastback68. Basically it's just prior to TF Revenge of the Fallen in the POV of Demolishor and Sideways. She just finished it not too long ago. I Lub Sideways because of her! THOSE EVIL AUTOBOTS!!! XD, Oh irony for what you're about to read. Anyways, perks to her for writing up his personality and letting me use him._

_Song - A Covenant of Thorns - State of Mind _

_The Sideswipe __-__ Sideways issue, yes I am an idiot. _

***

#It's in the air, tonight I feel the end; I've said goodbye to all my useless friends. In your world it all seems so sublime; The second hand ticks faster every time. And honestly, I think your wrong, I don't need you or anyone, to tell me it's okay.

I can feel the storm rush in; And I want to let it all go; _Tonight I've lost myself_; Float away and lose my hold; It's only a state of mind; _Tonight I've found myself_

I'm not asking you to change your mind; Or hide away, behind a wall of lies. And I know tomorrow will be the same; But to tell the truth I think I've lost my way. And honestly, I don't know why; But it has to be this way; And I don't see the point. Giving in and letting go; I want to disappear; _Tonight I've lost myself_. Float away and lose my hold; It's only a state of mind; _Tonight I've found myself_; And honestly I can't complain; Maybe we'd be better gone; Just give it all away

I can feel the storm rush in; And I want to let it all go; _Tonight I've lost myself_; Float away and lose my hold; It's only a state of mind; _Tonight I've found myself_. Giving in and letting go; I want to disappear; _Tonight I've lost myself_

Float away and lose my hold; It's only a state of mind; _Tonight I've found myself_;

The weak moon burned into a dark craggy wall. His spark ached so terribly his mind couldn't even focus on the usual onslaught of memories. He was so weak that despite all warnings, Bumblebee slowly slipped his systems out. He went into a full recharge.

***

Another dark wall to be stared at. This time the light receptors couldn't pick up all the marks and tool scratches. The light receptors that were Sari's eyes. Riley sat at her side, being there for silent comfort.

"I shouldn't have let him go! I should have went with him." She reprimanded herself harshly. She shook her head and buried her chin farther into her knees. Riley looked her over carefully before his quiet voice broke her fumming.

"When we get to City, we'll get the supplies to go find him." Riley whispered, trying to give her some optimism.

Sari balked out a sarcastic laugh. "And what makes you think we can find him?"

"We'll find him." Riley paused to swallow. He then met her eyes with stone set confidence, "He'll want us to find him."

Sari sniffled as she rocked slightly in her curled up state. Riley shifted closer to her side. He wasn't a very touchy-feely person, shoulder touching shoulder was his form of hug. Not surprisingly, Sari leaned into it.

Marcus was asleep in a cot at their side. Even though they were in one of the most secure outposts in the area, the habit of keeping watch wasn't something that could easily be disregarded. There were other reasons keeping Sari and Riley awake. For one, they were too worried about Bumblebee. The second was the strangeness this outpost gave off. There was the quiet hum from a generator that provided heat, light and power to the security devices. Comforts that just seemed too strange from what they were used to. Then there was the ticking of claws and the plots of footsteps on the smooth rock floor. Those were probably the worst. Patrols and watchdogs paced the hallways with scrutiny. There went the ticking of claws now, a pause and then a growl as the dog's nose aimed at Sari, Riley and Marcus. This guard too cast his wayward glare at them. Before the dog could bark an alert, the leash tugged, the master forbidding him. The dog reduced himself to wining and whimpering while he nervously paced back and forth, eyes glued to the three.

The guard studied the two children for a moment before hissing at his dog to move on. Sari and Riley glared back at him.

"I hate this! Everyone here thinks that Bumblebee is a monster!"

"I know." Riley mumbled.

"I mean, we're the ones who do all the leg work while the people in City just sit cozy. So we found a robot who's on our side, that doesn't mean you get to stare at us and think we are stupid! We encounter far more robots than you ever will" Sari hissed at the gone guard garnering a odd look from her friend and a disturbance from Marcus's slumber.

"Why don't we try to sleep. We'll get the supplies we need in the morning. We gotta nuff energon to trade for it. Then we'll go find him. Kay?"

"I want to buy flowers." Sari mumbled absentmindedly. A strange look. Sari didn't pick her chin up off her knees to see it, but she realized he needed clarification. "For Bumblebee. How will he know we are looking for him otherwise?" Sari decided to try and be optimistic. Maybe Riley was right, maybe Bumblebee wanted to be found. He probably just felt like nobody cared. And she wasn't afraid of the surface, she'd look for him. She'd show him she cares. "G'night Riley."

"Night Sari."

**

*

It has been a long time since they ventured into City. A human settlement that flourished right under Megatron's metaphorical nose. They flourished mainly because of Megatron's need for supplies and slaves. Slaves learned from their masters and then escaped. They learned how to use the Cybertronian technology and their energy. They learned how to avoid the evil overlords and teach others. And they learned to fortify cities against Decepticon attacks. City was the largest so it suffered the most attacks. All have been successfully fended. It was now believed that the only way that City would fall was if Megatron himself attacked it, or if a hunter risked enough to get on Megatron's good side. As far as they were concerned, a yellow little robot who spent two years at Megatron's castle who emerged only to aid the humans was nothing more than a cunning little hunter who didn't care about any one or any thing except getting higher on Megatron's list. Even his fellow robotic creatures meant nothing to his goals. If he had to play face with the humans for a while, well, it wasn't the first time that it happened.

That was most accepted rumor.

"Geezus Marcus. You're playing with some very dangerous fire!"

"Don't I know it."

Marcus found himself a small tavern just on the outskirts of City. Later on he'd be venturing into the heart of City with one goal in mind. To find Simmons.

"This is bad news. Maybe he does know about the weapon and he's using you to get to Seven."

"Trust me, that's crossed my mind. Otherwise, I don't have a clue on why he'd help us get energon. I donno, I'm still running the senarios in my head. He either wants to get Seven, or get into City."

"Or maybe he just wanted to help us." Sari's voice struck a nerve with Marcus. She slipped up behind him unnoticed only to announce her faith in this robot.

"Sari-"

"Where's our share of the energon?" Sari's cut him off with a firm voice and went straight to the point.

"Whatta need it for?"

"Because we want to get to City and get supplies."

"We're going to City tomorrow, we'll get supplies then."

"No, I don't want to wait."

A heaving sigh and his glass was dropped to the table in a muffled thunk. Marcus slipped off his stool and walked them to the door. No minors under the age of 21 anyways. Old rules that weren't really applicable anymore, but he didn't want them bothering him about the robot topic. At the door they continued their conversation about shares. Sari and Riley left, while Marcus returned to his table and his comrade.

"What was that about?"

"Hm, oh they? Just impatient I guess." Marcus waved it off as nothing and returned his drink to his hand.

"No I mean, her and the robot." A cautious stare, then he leaned over the table and horsely whispered, "That robot has her duped!?"

"Well, she thinks the robot wants to destroy Megatron."

"Are you kidding me!?"

"No. Infact," Marcus shook his head. "Captain had the idea of leading the robot on to have him help us kill Megatron." A disbiefed stare from the man across from him. "You know, Simmons's special weapon? How it's supposed to kill them all off. Make him think it's just for Megatron. Have him do the work for us. Eh." He shrugged. "Hell he already got us all the energon we could ever need!" Regarding the energon raid, for all intents and purposes, he couldn't wrap his head around how that ploy works in Bumblebee's favor, unless he seriously wanted to make life difficult for Megatron.

"Yeah right." A healthy gulp of bitter liquid. "You do know that there's hunters out there who can read minds right!?"

"Supposedly." Dry and unfazed. "There aren't too many hunters that I came across that I would call bright. Makes me hard pressed to believe something like that."

"I'm just saying. Don't underestimate this bot. Yeah, most of them might be pretty stupid. That doesn't mean there aren't smarter-than-snot ones out there! And concidering that he was roomed up with Megatron the last two years-" He left the conversation unfinished. Anyone with half a brain can fill in the gaps. The gap that entailed knowing the rumors that Megatron only allowed the most trusted and powerful warriors into his castle.

Marcus filled in that gap. He absentmindedly swirled his liquid around inside the cup. "Yeah. Could be just a game of chess to him. I mean, who knows how many steps ahead he's looking. Hell he even managed to make Seven look bad. Saying that he could have destroyed Megatron years ago. Bot's done this a couple of times now and I know some people are really starting to question their faith in Seven." Like his own.

His friend looked through him before dropping his eyes to his drink.

"I'm telling you, this bot is bad news."

"Yah." The tone was flat. Marcus inhaled and brought his drink up to his face. That wasn't the only senario running through his head. What if he was wrong about the whole thing. What if Bumble was indeed a slave to Megatron for two years, what if Bumble really was on their side, and the greatest chest crushing what if of all, _what if_ Simmons really wasn't the messiah everyone hopes he is. The thought finished in his brain and his body suddenly felt hollow. He threw in the rest of his drink into his mouth and tried to fill that hollowness with something. The drink slid down and coated his tongue and throat with a bitter, burning sensation, enough to make him wince. His hand coupled the glass and once the sensation dispersed the glass landed sharply onto the table. "Well I gotta get going. Thanks for the drink." It wasn't a thrilling, uplifting get-together, but word of mouth was now the safest form of communication now. He grabbed his coat, and worked his way out.

As he walked down the tunnels, he felt a lingering unease in his chest. What it was, he simply couldn't put a finger on it. What he did know, was that it has something to do with Bumblebee. In honest truth, he believed Bumblebee, but so did Sari and Riley. So somebody had to be skeptical between them.

***

There was no such thing as a bright blue, sunny day anymore. They used to be frequent. Not any more, they have all been replaced by hazy colorless skies. Sometimes there would be color but only as the sun drifted over the horizon. That color would be blood red. The same color of the dirt below his feet. The blue moon was dim today, but remarkably it was still there. His spark hadn't given up on him. In fact, for the first time in as long as he could remember these past two years, he actually had a restful recharge. Not enough to get his repair cycle in full swing, but enough rest to feel, almost content. If only for a moment however. Bumblebee had slipped out of his hiding spot to overlook the world before him. His content dropped away so fast he wasn't even sure he had it in the first place. The first thing that his optic gazed upon, was the bloodied remains of bodies. This time, there were no survivors to bid farwell. Optic narrowed. He'd find the ones responsible.

***

Check point. Being a heavily fortified city had it's drawbacks. Anyone entering City had to go through a barrage of searches and questions. Luckily the guards seemed to be content that the robot scent the two young adults reeked of was emanating from a nasty energon burn on Sari's hand. Besides, they were rovers. Killing robots and smelling like them went with the territory. And after the mistrust at the latest outpost, Sari and Riley were content to leave it at that. The dogs were shooed away quickly enough. Next came the check of anything potentially electronic. Almost anything that had the possibility of electricity going through it counted. Riley hated this part. His older brother had given him an ipod. It no longer worked and the battery was tore out of it which made it immune to the All Spark's powers, but every time, it was a fiasco trying to fight it from getting confiscated. He didn't win the battle this time. It was slipped into a bag and stamped with his name. He'd get ninety days to return back to this checkpoint to reclaim it, otherwise he would have to give it up forever. The only thing that remained from his older brother and everyone else treated it like trash.

"Don't worry. We're going to be here for only a couple of days. You'll get it back before you even notice it's gone." Sari preened in optimism.

"I'm not worried about that. I'm worried that they'll lose it." Riley huffed.

The last of their bags were checked. The man, who was doing the check, eyes went wide at the number of canisters they had in their possession.

"You've been busy." He exclaimed with exasperation. Sari shrugged with a coy smile. All the energon that they were able to get from the raid were being transferred to smaller canisters as they spoke. They were easier to trade this way, plus Marcus insisted that if the Decepticons had trackers on the energon cubes, it would be best to dismantle them completely. Sari only seen one energon cube getting redispersed when she went to pick up her share. Seeing how many canisters were needed for one cube she wondered if they would even have enough for repackaging.

"Yeah I guess." She reached over and grabbed her bags as Riley rasped his fingers over his fingernail in annoyance with the delay.

Together they walked through the thick plated doors that slowly creaked and groaned open. The pathway went downwards spiraling into blackness with a few yellowed lights acting as torches on the walls. They descended through the blackness and continued to walk until the gray craggy walls gleamed its detail by a new stream of glowing light. The light at the end of the tunnel. Before the light could wash over them, a welcoming aroma filled the air. Baked goods, fresh vegetables and an assortments of dried meats hanging out in the open market beyond their vision. For two so accustomed to scavenging out of plastic bags and metal cans for food, they could smell fresh food miles away. Sari smirked at Riley and he also wore a mild grin, they rushed forward at their quickest pace to enjoy their first hours of being back in a world that was the closest thing they had to the one they lost.

Meanwhile, Bumblebee drifted through the world he had become so accustomed to. All be it, one he never appreciated. He slowly worked his way up a large building. Once a giant office building that overlooked the city below. Now it was mostly a metallic skeleton blowing in the breeze. Being a scouter had it's benefits. As it was, he had impeccable tracking abilities. Although, it was rather easy to follow the bloodied robot foot falls to this location. Now he wormed around to avoid their detection and to get the upper hand. He was now a few floors above the Decepticons. Before his optics could gaze at who he was going against, he grated as he recognized _that_ energy signature.

Lurking in the shadows Bumblebee studied his next targets. Three Decepticons before him, but he sensors zeroed on on just one. His optic narrowed. That whiny voice. That one large optic. That disgusting demeanor. Everything about him grated at Bumblebee's circuits. Ever since that day when Bumblebee's team held down a distraction against the onslaught of Decepticons while Optimus secured the All Spark for it's journey to space. Bumblebee secretly burned for this moment but never imagined the day he'd act on it. Act on revenge. This moment wasn't the first time he lost friends, nor was it the last. What made the moment so remarkable was that it was the first time Bumblebee discovered what monsters this war created. Monsters like Swindle. Swindle was the one who cornered his team, then tortured them and right as it was Bumblebee's turn to have his spark ripped out of his chest, Megatron appeared and the lowly Decepticon scampered away like the lowlife he is.

He slipped down one more level of the old building. His audio sensors peaked.

"Bumblebee? Really? You're worried about him?!" Swindle chuckled in a hysterically mocking tone. Despite the mocking, the two unknown Decepticon's facial expressions announced that they were in fact worried about the rogue Autobot. Swindle hissed. "He was among the weakest of Autobots, if he wasn't for sure the weakest! You've seen how he hangs out with those fleshbags! As friends even, I mean I can understand as pets, but as equals?" A cackling laugh.

Even now his cocky blithering failed to hide his underlining sniveling. Try as he might to look powerful, he still looked too arrogant and pathetic. Although anyone weaker than him surely wouldn't point out those faults.

"He was directly under Optimus's team! Optimus wouldn't have people who didn't know how to fight!" The other Decepticon exclaimed. His hands wildly motioned his protest.

"Optimus? Please. He was weak! They all were! And it's not a matter of being able to fight, that twerp Autobot isn't even capable of killing!"

Enough. He was getting sick of listening to that voice.

A sudden crash came from behind the cycloptic Decepticon. The two smaller Decepticons stepped back in alarm. Swindle looked at them in an irritated questioning glare. Before they could respond, Bumblebee did.

"Greetings Swindle." He slowly rose to a standing position, his white optic bleeding out light from under the mask. The atmosphere was dark, so Bumblebee's features were well shadowed, looking ominous to the two smaller Decepticons. They stepped back as Swindle turned around in mild surprise. Before he could even quip or sarcastically spit back, Bumblebee's cannon flew forward and laced a powerful charge of energy through Swindles chest. A stronger blast than normal, Bumblebee had been charging it for this moment. The blast tore through the red body. Swindle staggered back as the shot just missed his spark, but his chest tore open and exposed it to the elements. It pulsed visibly, struggling against the sudden disappearance of the spark's protective force field. Swindles one optic widened at Bumblebee in surprise. Lightning strike speed, Bumblebee flew towards Swindle.

"What's that I'm not capable of doing?" Bumblebee hissed in a low monotone voice edging his face mask closer. Before Swindle could even sputter Bee rushed his hand into Swindle's chest. Ripping the exposed spark out of his body. The optic blinked once then the body dropped heavily.

The blighted optic zeroed on his new targets. The spark crushed in his fist. Their optics flashed in fright. Bumblebee stepped forward, with a spent spark in his hand. He took another step forward and the spark crashed onto the ground as Bumblebee opened his hand to switch over to his cannon. The two Decepticon's turned to run. Cannon flew up, energy struck the first one down. He dropped but still struggled to flee from the Autobot. Bumblebee burst into a run towards the second. The lowly Decepticon turned,

"n -n-n" His spark cavity burst open with a blast of energy and his spark was extinguished before he could even scream or beg for mercy. The body dropped and to Bumblebee's side the prone Decepticon whimpered. Without a word, Bumblebee turned, plunging his fist into the torn hole to finish the job. Optics steeled over. Then tore away only to see the color of the sunset that reminded him of blood. The gaze drifted to the destroyed landscape below him. His scanners opened allowing new data to flow over his processors. Partly for a distraction, partly for he knew that he had to do his part to clean house, no matter what. The dim optic narrowed as sensors picked up another spark signature in the area.

***

Marcus stormed out of the checkpoint. Irritated that Sari and Riley really went to City without him. They went through a day ago, he knew that because he slipped behind the counter to look over the confiscated baggies. He shook his head with annoyance. Sari had suddenly become a serious pain in the butt. All thanks to that damn robot! What was even worse was that she was dragging Riley with her. He made a promise to watch over him and he couldn't do that when they were out rampaging by themselves.

"Calm down Marcus, it doesn't matter. It's City. There's no reason to think they're in danger." He exhaled and tried to calm his nerves. He was so accustomed to being by their side nearly at all times. Without them he felt, lost.

*

"There's a Marcus to see you Sir."

"I'm busy, I think you can see that." Simmons didn't even bother to face the man. He was too busy jabbing needles and pins into a decapitated head of a Decepticon.

"He wants to talk to you about the weapon." Pearson was used to this. He already knew what his answer was going to be to Marcus before he even asked.

"Who doesn't."

"Tell him we have enough energon on hand to power it!" Marcus sneered as he barged through the door. Simmons stopped his study and harshly slammed his tool down. For all that hard work it only made a quiet _tink._

"I don't believe you are authorized to be in here!" Simmons snapped. Marcus looked around the room to see an assortment of robot corpses. To his left there was a large window that opened up to a huge hanger a floor down. A large shape had been moved down there. There wasn't enough light to see what was there but it vaguely had the shape and size of the robot Bumblebee was giving homage to. Peaking interest for wanting to take a closer look but Simmons was closing in on him fast. Simmons stepped in Marcus's face. "You don't belong in here. Now I am asking you politely," then a pitch louder, "to leave!"

"Did you not hear me? I have the energon to run your weapon!"

"Great, leave it with my associate."

Marcus glanced over at the twitchy man. "No. I don't think I want to just hand it over." Simmons chortled at Marcus's defiance. Marcus continued, "I want to know why you had Captain arrested!" Simmons's eyes went from dismissive to cold in point zero three seconds flat.

"What's there to know?"

"Why you had him arrested." A stiff, even voice.

"He was in cahoots with the enemy! Now if you excuse me-"

"You arrested him over Bumblebee? Are you kidding me?!" Simmons froze at that word _Bumblebee_.  
_  
__'Where's my car?'__  
_We need you're information to save the world!_ 'Okay. But first, I'll take my car-__  
__'You have to take me to my car!'__  
__'Bumblebee!'_

"You know where he is!" Simmons snapped as his eyes snapped back on to Marcus's face. They twitched in rage. "You know where NBE 2 is!" His eyes shifted in their sockets as he studied Marcus over. Then in a shrill yell, "Where is he!?"

"I have no idea. That's not the point right now."

"It's the whole point! I want to know, where- he- is!"

"I don't know! Look you have the energy you need to make you're weapon-"

"I'm not doing anything with the weapon until I have that robot tore to pieces on my study!" Simmons yelled, loudly. Marcus was taken aback by this.

"Why?" Marcus could hardly get the words across his mouth on account that he was so stunned.

"That, is non of your business." Simmons turned to Pearson and snapped his fingers. "Get the guards. We have another traitor amongst our mists." Stunned eyes fixed on Simmons. Marcus lunged forward grabbing Simmons by his collar.

"You can't do that!" Marcus hissed between his teeth. Simmons's eyes nonchalantly dropped to Marcus's fists wrapped around his shirt, then up again at Marcus. As if he needed to visually verify that Marcus had in fact, threaten him.  
"I'm not a traitor, that doesn't even make any sense! I HAVE energon for your weapon! The robot helped us get it!"

Simmons eyes narrowed. A cloud of footsteps entered the room. Marcus released his grasp on Simmons's shirt.

"Really?" It wasn't actually a question, just a sarcastic remark. "And what does this robot intend to get out of this transaction?"

"He doesn't want anything. Hell, he wouldn't even take what we offered him."

"Offered!?"

"Yeah, we got an over abundance of energon, we figured giving him one for helping us. He wouldn't even take it."

Simmons glared at him, shaking his head while biting the inside of his cheek. "Take him away." He muttered in disappointment.

"Hey wait a minute!" Marcus snarled as guards wrapped around him. "Didn't you hear me? I have energon to give to you for your weapon to destory Megatron! I have enough energon to power up his weapon and run City for years!" They were following orders, they didn't care. They did, but outside a questionable glance to Simmons, they weren't going to disobey.

"Wait. How much energy are you talking about?" Before Marcus could respond, "Show me." Simmons demanded.

***

Bumblebee crouched down. His fists still had some oozing coolant coating them. Apertures shifted shut. So far every single combatant he faced so far had been civilians who took up arms for Megatron's army. He really hoped that his attack on the energon depot would have caught the attention of someone important. Alas as far as he could tell, no military grade Decepticon would waste any time over him. In a way, he almost felt like he should be disappointed. He slipped back into the shadows with his nullifyer vamped up. He needed to rest some of his injuries away.

***

"Sari!"

Relief crossed over him as he found her before she disappeared deep in the crevices of City. Riley turned around at Marcus's voice. In front of him Sari turned to give her friend an angry scowl and pulled him forward, forcing Riley's eye contact to disengage with Marcus.

"Damnit Sari, I need to talk to you!"

"Tell Marcus that I am not on speaking terms with him!" Sari snarled to Riley. He turned back to Marcus and shrugged.

"What? What brought this on?"

"Oh I don't know." She stopped heaving in an angry chestful of air before facing him. "How about, we went and let Captain out of jail. Turns out you and him were planning on using Bumblebee all along. Something about tricking Bumblebee into to destroying himself. Ring any bells?!"

Now Marcus inhaled, his chest wasn't angry, rather he felt like he was just caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He must have shook his head slightly as he stared at her in dumbfound.

"Really? Because that guy you were talking to the other day at the bar confirmed the story! And so did a bunch of other people who said that's what you told Simmons!"

"Look-" Sari turned to walk away without seeing what he had to say. "Damnit Sari, listen to me!" Marcus growled snatching her arm turning her to face him.

"Get off!" She hissed and ripped her arm back. She readjusted her gear, lifting it up onto a better position on her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Marcus eyed the large amount of supplies.

"I'm going topside. I'm going to find Bumblebee." She sneared. She turned to storm off. Marcus watched her drift away. But when Riley turned to join, Marcus grabbed his arm to stop him.

"That's insane." Marcus muttered watching Sari storm off. Riley with a lot less force, tried to slip out of Marc's grip as well. "Riley?"

"I'm going with her!" Riley growled really drawing Marcus back. "Riley it's not worth it. Besides, it's probably crawling with Decepticons after the energon raid!"

"I'm sorry Marcus." Riley slipped away. Marcus watched in stun angry silence for a moment.

"I don't believe this!" He snarled and begun following them. Despite what Sari liked or not, it was still going to be a three person team.

***

Bumblebee skipped through the streets, his leg nearly went out on him causing himself to stretch out a hand in front to catch himself. Left foot, right foot, right hand, he regained his footing to continue on his run. He tossed his body around the corner. Optic widened as a team of humans were standing there. He stopped, they turned. Both organic and mechanical light sensing devices went wide. Guns flipped forward and begun lacing his body with bullets. Some even lit up in the foreboding pulse of blue light. His arm went up to shield his chest and face as he twisted away to avoid from getting attacked from behind even if there was no such threat yet. His cannon on his right hand shifted and he armed it menacingly.

"Stop that!" He hissed. His internal mechanisms were so close to clearing these humans out. So close to triggering. However his demand was hailed. "Shoot at me again, I will kill you. Do you understand that?!" His voice was weary and bitter. The humans below shifted uneasily. There was no time, his optic shifted up to see the Decepticon he was fleeing from. His gun followed and a fireball exploded over the humans' heads. Bumblebee didn't have the strength or time to protect them even if he wanted to. He tore off into his run again. Behind him the Decepticon hissed and jumped over the humans to continue his pursuit of the Autobot.

A glance back and a change of direction. His leg buckled under him, causing a misstep again. This time he was able to catch himself without resorting to running on three limbs. A few direction changes in, he slipped inside a building. A quick scan. His sensors buzzed back with inconsistencies. He shook them off, he didn't have time to investigate what was causing it. The blue energon bullets maybe? He leapt down a broken stairway and slipped into a corner to hide. You don't win them all, and sometimes getting back up isn't an option. He got lucky. He was able to get back up, even if it was only to run away. His sensors perked to the sound of movement. His cannon quietly slid into place. Damn. He was getting low on physical bullets. Without them he'd barely be able to penetrate his foe's force field and he didn't think he had the strength left to take him on hand to hand. Optic fixed upwards as he quietly snuck around on the floor below trying to get sensors full of information. There was still something impeeding his sensors. He didn't think it was the bullets. It seemed to be an external interference. He heard movement. He shifted his position to look through the hole above him. Nothing but the light streaming in. Optic widened, still trying to figure out what was there. He couldn't without going up a level and he wasn't sure he wanted to risk it. He crept down, he'd wait a while. Maybe it was possible the Decepticon lost his trail. Then something wet hit his shoulder. His left hand reached over and swiped the drop onto his digits. It was his own fluid, he glanced down to realize he had been oozing. Damn! A blood trail. Hiding here would be unwise! He crept up the broken stairway and avoided making any noise. Hard to do when he was about the same size as the hole. He slipped out and found a back way out of the building. He could hear the Decepticon looking for Bumblebee's entrance.

It was cat and mouse time. The static over his sensors actually seemed to work to his benefit. Some of his sensors had long been impaired. And now with the interference, the Decepticon was on the same level as he was. Being more careful about leaving a blood trail, Bumblebee twisted around and doubled back the way he came. Continuing his caution towards the Decepticon.

Movement caught his good optic. His head swiveled and he rasped in alarm. Audio sensors flicked up in alert. He didn't see anything, but it was best to avoid the area. He drifted away still weary and cautious of the world around him. He suddenly registered the feeling that he was being followed. He slowly moved forward listening to their footsteps. Humans obviously. They were behind him. He couldn't rely on his sensors to get an idea as to how many, he didn't turn his head back to look at them for that would betray the impression of being oblivious. He reached a corner and dodged beyond sight. Then the organics followed, trying to determine which direction he went. Optic studied them. They had an assortment of scanners at their hand. They were dressed in thick body armor and their weapons appeared to be highly specialized for fighting robots. Could they be the ones responsible for the interference? After they passed, Bumblebee slipped back to the pathway. Again going the opposite direction as where they went. Three steps in and his leg buckled again. Surprise escaped his voicebox and his body clunked from the sound of his own weight. He glanced back just in time to see he had alerted the humans.

Cursing at himself Bumblebee limped from the area. With the mounting damage he sustained, he wasn't expecting to get out of this one. He stopped when he heard a large thunk of metal around him. He stopped carefully eyeing his location so he wouldn't inadvertently run right into the Decepticon. But stopping wasn't helpful either, now the humans were catching up. He stopped to look them over as well. Then back to see where he could escape.

"Easy pal. We won't hurt you." The voice didn't have the heart to back up those words, never the less, it stopped Bumblebee cold. He turned to get a good look at the men and women.

"You're soldiers." Bumblebee realized.

"Very perceptive." The man congratulated. His weapon lined up with the robot. Bumblebee slowly shifted to a more effective stance. Bumblebee's cannon formed in caution. The other soldiers began to spread themselves out so that if Bumblebee fired upon anyone, they would be able to flank him. Bumblebee studied them, then a small sliver of optimism. If other military personnel made it this far, maybe the humans had a chance after all. Maybe-

"I must ask, have you ever heard of a soldier by the name of Robert Epps?"

The man smiled coyly, his southern accent sweetened his tone. "That is information I'm not willing to devolve."

Lovely, a game. His head dodged back to where he might have heard the Decepticon. He didn't have time for this. However his optimism had yet to be dashed.

"Well, your reluctance might suggest that that is something you have information on." Bumblebee's tone lifted. He didn't deny knowing him. Bumblebee stepped back, his leg buckling slightly. The man chuckled.

"Maybe, maybe not. Otherwise you seem to be quite the perceptive type. You're not one of those who can read minds and tell if people are lying or not are you?"

"No." Bumblebee shifted back a step. The other men shifted to blocking his exit. _Damn them._ His body had been through far too much, yet he kept on pushing, he kept on pushing. Now he was face to face with a handful of humans and favors were horribly against him. Of course it didn't help that they had a myriad of powerful weapons. Powerful weapons that Epps was helping him look for. Perhaps he succeeded where Bee had failed.

"I believe you. In fact for you're honesty, I'll answer you're question. No. I never heard of the guy."

"What's your purpose here then?"

The soldier laughed. "Again, I don't think you need to know that."

"Humor me. You don't seem to be here to kill me." Optics wrapped around him to study the flank. Capture seemed to be the obvious goal.

"Well, I will if I have to. Although I would prefer it if you would come with us quietly."

Bumblebee ticked quietly to himself. Who else would have access from the military side? Who would want Bumblebee alive? A realization. He could have gobsmacked himself on how obvious it was.

"You're sent by Simmons!" Bumblebee growled.

The man smiled broadly. That was an obvious yes.

Bumblebee's weapon lifted to a more threatening location. Others did in response so Bumblebee wanted to clarify, "I have no intention of hurting you." He didn't, but unlike before, it crossed his mind if it was necessary to do so.

"We don't want to hurt you either." Yeah right, not with all you're weapons and the way you're surrounding me. And that damn sensor nullifyer made it impossible to figure out where to go without staring at his exit. "Just come with us quietly, and we won't have to."

Another growl this time even louder. "The hell I'm going to allow Simmons to get close to me!" He'd rather take his chances against their weapons. His head dodged quickly. Going through a wall will have to do. He launched himself into the brick building. He tore through it and realized that he hadn't been shot at. Yet. Through the other side of the building and he picked a random direction to run. A growl, not of his own. He alerted the Decepticon by that stunt. Quick. Hide.

Like clockwork the Decepticon soon appeared.

Lovely. The Decepticon is tracking him, the humans are tracking him, he was nearly depleted of ammunition. He was nearly depleted of energy. The mini spark disruptors compromised his force field. What did he have left? Energy blasts. He could use that to take care of the humans. Although he'd rather not. He was so screwed!

Optics closed in frustration only to open again to hear a whimpering human. A young one, Sam's age, Sari's age.

"I suppose you want me to speak in their language. It figures, as I suppose you consider yourself one of _them_ now. Fitting really, they're like insects. That is what your human designation name is isn't it? A bug?" The Decepticon took a few steps around to survey the area.

_Damn._

"You know, I bet it screams as well as an Autobot." His claw slipped up the skin along the human's spine. He shrieked.

Damnit! Just let him go! He's just a human! He's not worth it! His hands braced up against his audio receptors. The screams turned to sobbing, turned to pleading, then begging.

"Stop it!" Bumblebee hissed, stumbling out of his hiding spot. The Decepticon chuckled at such a useful ploy.

"So, an exchange for their lives for yours?" He didn't loose Bumblebee, he went back to snatch up the humans to draw him out!

"And how do I know you'll let them go if I do?" _Dammit Bee!_

Laughter, "Because I'll be so busy cutting you up, they'll have plenty of time to run away." His tone so enthusiastic he could barely contain himself. "Do we have a deal?" He started squeezing the human. The human balked out a cry when he felt ribs give away to the pressure. When the pressure ceased, the human gave a Bumblebee a long pleading look. Bumblebee stared back.

"Alright." Bumblebee hissed.

"Delightful."

"But you never gave the conditions." Bumblebee placed himself into a battle stance position. The Decepticon burst out in laughter again.

"Like that matters." The human was haphazardly tossed aside.

Bumblebee planted himself farther into his weight. The Decepticon was right, it didn't really matter. There wasn't really much of a fight left in him.

Just as the Decepticon's legs propelled himself through the air, explosions shook through his body. The force and his lack of control allowed Bumblebee to slip out of the collision. The robot crashed behind him.

"Miss us?" The human soldier called out. The others tended to the injured boy. Most continued to point their guns at him.

"No."

"Well you should, we just saved your life."

"So you can simply turn me into Simmons. Turning me from one party with intentions to tear me to pieces with another party doesn't condone a thank you."

"What? Simmons wouldn't do that. Would he?" The tone was pleasantly mocking.

"Yes. Yes he would. Do you even need to bother asking?"

"I don't know, you don't seem like such a bad guy. I'm sure Simmons doesn't plan on tearing you up. I mean look at all the goodies you've given him so far. Why would he need you for that?"

Didn't know, didn't care. Bumblebee shifted. Idle chit chat, they were up to something. He was too, he hoped his nanites could finish some of his more dire repairs. He certainly didn't need to be leaking out any more vital fluid. And being able to run normal again would be nice.

"Besides, I'm sure this isn't healthy for you. Fighting all these baddies by yourself. What's that?" The soldier pointed. Bumblebee humored him by looking down at his own armor. "You got shot up by humans. Now I'm sure they didn't mean it, but in a pinch it's hard to tell you apart sometimes."

What were these guys up to!? Behind the speaker the soldiers were trying to be unnoticeable as they set up a large harpoon with intentions of wrapping him up with a net. At least, that's what he machine did the last time he was attacked by it. He took a step back and his right leg caused him to stumble. They wanted to act, but the speaker raised his arm up to stop them.

"You must be so tired of fighting and running like this. Come with us, and you won't have to anymore!"

Tantalizing words.

Bumblebee really wished he could read minds right now. Or maybe he didn't have to. Think Bee, think. Running through his memory circuits, what was it he learned about human hunting techniques back when he was studing these creatures? They certainly weren't strong, they weren't fast and even with their weapons they needed to have some sort of a one-up on other creatures on this planet. Ah yes. Their ability to simply run. Outrun and exhaust their pray. Their other one-up, was to learn about their prays' habits. They encountered a few Decepticons, learned how to take them down, probably even toyed with them like they were toying with him. All in an effort to take them alive for Simmons little experiments. Now, how would they be able to do that? Wait for him to go into a stasis lock or a forced recharge. Hell he already felt like he was about to fall for one or the other. Bumblebee shook his head,

"You are the ones that are perceptive aren't you?" His voice couldn't help but wrap a bitter tone around his words.

The soldier's smile faded slightly. Not sure if this was a good sign or a bad one. Suddenly Bumblebee turn to run in full speed. He heard them shout and yell to go after him. Try and outrun a car! Even if it _is_ only a three wheeled car, he was betting they weren't planning on chasing after him.

***

His appreciation for the human army was diminishing. Simmons and Megatron with their fingers wrapped around things making life egregious for him. He shifted upwards, resting his head back before his thick armor prevented it from falling back farther. For a while he appreciated the military, when they tried so hard to stop Megatron from getting the All Spark. It felt like they would give them a fighting chance, even after their first hope was dashed at stopping Megatron. It wasn't long after that he realized that there was no working together. The Autobots were weak against Decepticons by themselves. The humans were weak against Decepticons by themselves, but working together- too little, too late. Only a small group herald together by Lennox. Otherwise, there was no alliance.

Something should have been done differently! They should have worked together since the beginning rather than such an uneasy alliance thrown together at the end. And after they lost, he lost his last friend to the humans. His brother in arms, the one who taught him how to fight, who gave them the knowledge to turn the tides of the one sided war. And mostly, the one who encouraged him.

***

They were in the Rockys now. Getting caught in the flat prairie lands with no cover was a mistake they never wanted to repeat. The mountains were decided for the trip back. The trip was toured in silence. Ironhide had closed off his cab so Bumblebee couldn't hear any discussion between him, Lennox and the remaining soldiers. He understood that privacy was important, but he desperately wanted someone to talk to. Bumblebee begun packaging a message to Ironhide when he realized, out of habit he was translating it in to his old fashioned emotionless syntax. The language he was stuck with after Megatron _dealt_ with him. He cast it aside for now, for there was a realization that they weren't alone.

Barricade had caught onto their trail. He was an even match for Bumblebee to face off against, Ironhide made it incredibly against his favor. Barricade had attempted to stay hidden until backup arrived, unfortunately for him, he got caught.

Between the two Autobots, it didn't take long to bring an end to him. Ironhide finished him by pushing him off of a cliff. It was a lesson to be learnt by both Ironhide and Bumblebee. Kill your enemies the first chance you get. Both had simply let Barricade slide by leaving him in stasis lock. Now that the tides had turned so sourly, it was a hard lesson to take. Expecially for Bumblebee. After all those years, his killer instinct had yet to be fully realized, to be fully learned. Sure he killed, but never in the dire intentions of doing it in calculated coldness. Bumblebee watched as the car bounced twice, transformed and pathetically tried to grasp on to a rock ledge with his weapon. It slipped free and he fell. The weight of gravity took it's toll as he plunged into the rock bed nearly a thousand feet below.

Then Barricade's back up arrived.

It was Starscream.

Scheming, meticulous, full of calculated coldness. The thirst for spent Autobot sparks fueled his insane desire to finish off the two. Bumblebee and Ironhide sped through the spiraling roads. It was no use, they couldn't outrun a jet. Outmaneuver yes, but the clean roads didn't present them the type of cover they were hoping for. They had to make their own roads to find cover. Not an easy task for forms that weren't designed for such a task. Eventually they rerouted and it stranded them with one option. A bridge, completely out in the open, completely vulnerable. Bumblebee slid to a stop looking at the hazard before him. There was nowhere left to go on this mountain except back the way they came. Besides, this bridge wasn't really intended for vehicles. He turned, ready to speed back when Ironhide slide to a stop next to him. Then, Starscream transformed and landed, blocking their path.

"Get moving." Ironhide demanded smoothly. A typical order, never an ounce of fear or apprehension in his tone.

"But." Bumblebee protested weakly. Thundercracker was one thing, but this was Starscream. Not as powerful as Megatron but certainly more than they could handle alone, far more than just Ironhide. Not in a match to the death. Starscream knew this, and Starscream was fully intending on ending their sparks right here. No more distraction, no more half afting it to see what happens. Starscream snarled and stepped forward. Ironhide's doors popped open and Lennox and the others stepped out in determination.

"Oh no, Lennox what are you doing?" Epps's tone conveyed something that he caught in his friend's eye that Bumblebee hadn't.

"Go!" Ironhide barked. Bumblebee slipped down a few hundred yards on the Royal Gorge Bridge before turning to watch Ironhide engage Starscream. Metal chunks went flying as they first laced fists into each other. Then medium ranged cannons went off in short range, pummeling each other with large sweltering holes. Ironhide dropped to one knee. Starscream towered over him.

"Hide!" Bumblebee called out and started racing towards his friend. His announcement caught Ironhide's attention. Ironhide shifted his weight crashing his leg into Starscreams joint, knocking him down. Then, dispite everything, he disengaged Starscream long enough to shoot blue daggers down the bridge forcing Bumblebee to reverse. The Camaro shot backwards, absolutely dismayed, absolutely baffled at Ironhide's action. Absolutely horrified! When the blades stopped so did Bumblebee. Ironhide turned to Starscream, forcing his two arms forward aiming straight at the jet's chest. Rapid fire pummeling everything from his cannon into Starscream's chest, the Decepticon jumped back, duly injured but not down for the count. He growled and shifted his own weapons to return the treatment. Ironhide tried to dodge, but they struck anyways. Hits not as deadly because they missed his chest, but his legs sprayed apart, cripling him.

Bumblebee flew forward again, only to stop when he felt the bridge sway under him. Lines begun to snap and the bridge heaved through the air like an ocean torrent. A moment of shock, horror, and the crashing realization that this was the end of his last known Autobot friend.

"Bumblebee!" Mikaela shrieked as the bridge shifted chaotically under them, sliding them towards the deadly plunge. Breaking in places, cables flying around them, one struck leaving a nasty blow on the corner of his windshield with a deafening crack. Glass wasn't shattered, but a pummeled piece of metal that in all intents and purposes, mimicked glass. He shot in reverse and raced to out-run the breaking structures. His focus shot back up to Ironhide again, only to see a new set of jets fly behind them. The closest unleashed it's barrage crashing into Starscream's back, dropping him to his knees. Ironhide stumbled on destroyed joints and laced one last powerful explosion into Starscream's chest. The explosion went through, firing out through his penetrated armor. Red optics flickered then dimmed to black as his body fell forward from the weight. Ironhide grabbed a groove, and tossed Starscream's body forward, over the cliff edge. Letting gravity have the rest of him. Then, another racket of explosions, and Ironhide's body slumped.

"IRONHIDE!!!" Bumblebee shrieked, his occupants had already scrambled out. He transformed, slinking to the edge of the bridge, trying desperately to find a way back to his friend. More structures began to sway like fluid as the structures unhinged. The jets fired at him as well. He dodged back to see the remainder of the bridge fall before him. His servos whimpered and he whimpered. He paced wildly at the edge, wanting to rush to Ironhide's side. He tried to slip over the edge, trying to find somewhere quickly to cross. The rocks sprayed away from under him and he was forced to retreat past the edge to more solid ground. Mikaela and Epps tried to calm him. He stopped his plight, but it wasn't calmness that rushed over him, absolute despair. He crashed to his knees and watched his friends' lifeless bodies from a far. Grief welling over him, it was Mikaela's touch that prevented him from crossing over to the brink. She was there, Epps was there, their kind couldn't afford for him to give up. Shocked noises drifted from his throat. He calmed himself and realized that he had to do what he had to do. He had to keep going. He had to protect the humans!

Even as the underlining circuit screamed at him that it was their kind that killed Ironhide!

***

He wanted nothing to do with the humans! But then again, it wasn't their choice to be in this war. Despite his misgivings, it was still his responsibility to rid their planet of their pestilence. He allowed the All Spark to drift to this planet. It was that action that caused this world to suffer. It was his responsibility.

He went back to restless nights. Memories saturated his processor instead of the much needed sleep his weary systems needed. Despite that, he could never rest. No rest for the wicked, as the humans would say. He wasn't sure why the term existed but it seemed apt for his recent doings. Four more Decepticons laid to waste. He killed two of them in surprise. Then the third saw what he was up against and even pleaded to have his life spared. Bumblebee's parts burned and even shook at the stress. After the fourth he concluded that it would get easier after a while. They shouldn't be here. This wasn't their planet. They weren't here to play nice with the inhabitants, there was no reason to play nice with them. _It's just a phase Bumblebee, it will pass.__  
_  
During that time he had come across something strange. It was strange because it was so out of place. A yellow rose laying in the center of a roadway. He eyed it with curiosity, but dropped the emotion. It wasn't worth his investigation.

***

Indeed as he imagined, Sari wasn't pleased with him tagging along. Two days of silence on the surface was aggravating. It was common place for Riley some days, but not Sari. And of course, anything brought up provoked an argument.

"I seriously can't believe it Marcus. I can't. You have seen almost as much as I have and yet you still think he's out to kill us! I don't understand how you still think that!"

"Because Sari. Somebody has to. Look I do think that there's a chance that he's on our side, but I can't blindly leap into that direction to have another robot infiltrate our outposts, our cities. Somebody has to keep an eye on him."

She steamed. "I get that. What I don't get is how that makes it right to use Bumblebee like that!!" At least she wasn't being completely unreasonable.

"Yeah well." A pause. "That's why I let Bumblebee go. Not after what he went through to help us get energon. I just," Marcus sighed. "If we don't use that weapon, we don't kill Megatron. If we do, then, well." He paused to sulk. "I don't know. I guess after he got the shit kicked outta him by Megatron, I thought maybe he's had such a tough life anyways." He paused. That changed. "Now, it just doesn't seem right. Whatever!" He discontinued the topic. However internally he couldn't drop it. _What changed your mind Marcus?_ _Captain was right, with his guilt he'd probably be eager to give his life to destroy Megatron. Why is that now such a big deal now? It was already proven that he might sacrifice himself. After all, he nearly gave his life to get them energon. _Something burned in his heart. He riffled though his discombobulated thoughts.

"Captain is such a prick! Why would you even considered his idea?"

It snapped Marcus out of his thoughts. "Yeah well, it was _you_ whoreleased him from jail."

"I didn't pay for his bail if that's what you mean. We met up with some people from Nine who were content to let him rot, until we told them about what happened. We just tagged along. I would have been content to let him sit there and rot. Expecially after what he said!"

"I was going to say. I'd never pay for that bastards release. Not after he pulled a gun to your head." She cast him a appreciative glance. Marcus eyed her carefully and sighed.

At least the the arguments were at a minimum for that night at least.

***

His next target was down here. Down hidden in the tunnels. Out of those he destroyed, most went into his cache without a name. Not this time, he recognized the voice from behind him.

"Well well. If it isn't an Autobot. I hadn't seen one of you for vorns." That voice belonged to Sideways. Bumblebee didn't know his subject very well. Another Con that once was a civilian. Apparently another one who was cocky enough to think he could out power Bumblebee. Otherwise why would he have sparked up a conversation if it wasn't there just to mock him? "Ever get your voice processor to work?"

Bee growled his engine as his wheels spun to shift his Camaro body to face the Audi R8. He had always hated getting taunted for not being able to speak so it was much to his amusement he could answer. "Why yes. Yes, I did." His voice was wrapped with sinister demureness.

"Well, that's good. I guess." The silver car shifted uneasily. Sideways didn't have a mocking or cocky tone. Rather, it was awkward. Like he was pathetically attempting to start a conversation. Bumblebee's engine drifted to silence in surprise at the Audi. His killer pretense also drifted. "So-" His word drifted, obviously having nowhere to go.

"What do you want Decepticon?" Bumblebee snapped.

Sideways twitched on his wheels. More reserved and obviously intimidated as he forced his voice to be clear. "I just want to talk."

"Talk? I have no interest in talking to a Decepticon!" Bumblebee's voice snapped making Sideways roll back on his wheels.

"Well hey, you got your voice back. If it was me, I'd probably talk to everyone." A horribly awkward chuckle could not mask the nervousness in his voice.

Bumblebee's engine shifted and growled. "Fine, I'll humor you. What do you want to talk about." He really, didn't care.

"I just wanted to ask you to stop this fighting."

Bumblebee was silent for a moment while looking over his foe in disbelief. "What?" Bumblebee could have chocked on his words if it was possible for him to do so.

"Look. The war is over. Just admit that you've lost and move on!" Sideways protested with sudden strength in his voice.

"Not for me it's not." Cold voice, rather irritated.

"It is though! Your leader is gone! You're not fighting for him anymore!"

His engine vamped. "You think I fought just because Optimus told me to!?" Bumblebee was a little taken back.

"Uh, yeah." Sideways replied, a little baffled himself.

"This isn't about fighting for him! It was about fighting for something I believe in." Bumblebee's voice became more animated, more irritated. Sideways drew back in intimidation and Bumblebee refused to let a gap grow between them.

"What cause could possibly be worth all this?!" The Audi's tone was weary. "We're all tired of this war. It's done, it's over with. Move on! I don't understand why you keep dragging on the fight. There's nobody left but you!"

"Are you really this stupid!?" Bumblebee asked with sincere, angered curiosity which caused the Audi to twitch on his wheels again, this time in irritation. "This isn't you're world! These creatures aren't here to be your little play things."

"No of course not, but after your side started this war we need the energy from this planet to rebuild ours!"

"We started this war!?" Bumblebee was angry and baffled. Bumblebee tore speed into his tires and slid across the sand vicing Sideways into a wall. Sideways yelped at the sudden aggression. "What do you mean, we started this war!?" Bumblebee hissed. "As I remember it, and I remember this quite well, Megatron's army attacked us first!"

"I was there since the beginning too, scrapheap! I wasn't sparked into existence yesterday!"

"Could have fooled me." Bumblebee's engine growled and edged closer to Sideways. Bumblebee's force field strengthened and edged over Sideways's. Normally sharing a force field was akin to a hug, but not when such power was projected forward causing static to snap at each other. This was a move of dominance. One that would have been too subtle of nuances for the human perception to register. Sideways dropped to silence for a moment, focusing his scanners in a tense state, looking over the Autobot.

"Well then, if that isn't the case then maybe you can answer this for me. See, I always wondered why Megatron started this war, but I was never really in the best position to ask a Decepticon about it. Maybe you'll enlighten me now that you seem convinced that it's all over and we should just let bygones be bygones?"

"Okay look. If you keep fighting, you will die! It's only a matter of time before they get sick of what you're doing and come after you in full force!"

"So nice of you to care." Tone drenched in rabid sarcasm interrupting any point the Decepticon was trying to make.

"Well, no I don't." The Decepticon defended weakly. "Just, you're making the humans think they have a chance! Just as everything seemed to finally quiet down, you get them all riled up and," he trailed, "we're just so sick of having this war." Bumblebee spun back on his tires, in absolute shock.

"You really _are_ this stupid aren't you!?" Shock and awe. Freaking unbelievable!

"You know, I think I liked you a lot better when you _couldn't_ talk." Ways muttered dryly.

"And I think I liked you better when I didn't know that you were such an idiot! Megatron doesn't have you very high on his call list does he? What are you? You still consider yourself a courier? I bet you fought great battles with _that _title. Otherwise you would have known that Decepticons only live to kill. If this war was over they'd just start another one! You really think this planet is the only source for energon!? Have you noticed how impure it is? That's because this world isn't even a good source! They're just here to force another species into extinction!"

"That's not true." His words caused Bumblebee to edge up again. His engine snarling quietly to make a growl. "It's not!" Sideways defended. "Sure there are some bad Cons out there, but we're not all like that!"

"The only good Con is a dead one." Bumblebee replied harshly, his underlining aggression made his concept quite clear. Sideways rolled back on his wheels, and this time they didn't stop.

"Oh'kay. I uh, think I'll be heading out now-" His non-discreet retreat obviously wasn't working. He squealed his tires and took off down the tunnels. Bumblebee roared his engine and took off after him.

After a few twists and turns Bumblebee blocked off the Decepticon's path using his extensive knowledge of the tunnels. He transformed and lunged at Sideways. Sideways transformed and huddled at the wall as Bumblebee bared down at him.

"Who are you!?" He feebly whimpered. Before the Autobot could respond with anything, "I had no idea that Optimus was the only thing preventing you Autobots from becoming ruthless killers!" Sideways yelped, wincing as he expected a blow.

Horror from those words caused Bumblebee to stop mid stride.

Sideways shuffled uneasily. From what he knew of Bumblebee, he wasn't a killer. He wouldn't have came down here to face him otherwise.

Gears and parts overheated as Bumblebee's arm fell neutral. The con huddled under him with his optics forced shut, as he braced a wall for comfort. Feeble comfort. Bumblebee could smell the electrical current of panic on his parts.

_Primus, he's just a civilian! _

His spark seized. How many others were just civilians? How many others that he -

killed.

Bumblebee stepped back, unsteady. Sideways was unaware of the change. He must have been pummeled into submission from so many Decepticons before him. Perhaps he could have easily been an Autobot. If he only knew the truth! But now his encounter with an Autobot outside of war was just as miserable as the coldest of Decepticons!

Sideways's optics slitted open, staring at the dirt. It was his own stupid mistake for coming down here. He had no intentions to take on the angry Autobot on toe to toe. Now he knew the truth. Bumblebee wasn't killing these Decepticons through warfare. They probably didn't even get A chance to fight back! His voice came out weary but stoic. "Are you going to kill me know?"

"No." Bumblebee answered quickly but his voice cracked over the simple word. His optics shifted chaotically, trying to grasp onto something comforting inside his processor. Nothing good, just evil. He took another step back and hugged his back and arms on the opposite wall. Sideways finally dodged his optics upwards. He didn't understand what happened, but he understood this meant _run. _Slowly and quietly he made his way to his feet, and then tore off transforming into a car and booking it out of there. Leaving Bumblebee alone with his putrid thoughts.

Bumblebee's legs collapsed under him at his own gravity.

It took him so many vorns to learn _how _to kill and now, he almost killed so readily that it terrified him!

He had become everything he hated about them.


	9. Chapter 9

What would Optimus think?

What would he say?

How would he regard such a murderer? Bumblebee killed with no remorse. Optics gazed at the sight before him. The streets were littered with his carnage from the primitive sparklings. He killed them without a second thought. Was that not the point to sending the All Spark into space? So that if their planet died, the All Spark could bring new life on other planets. Primitive or not, they were still living, that is, until he ruthlessly cut them down. His optics dimmed while looking through the plastic and metal bits scattered across the streets.

Below him a small yellow organic flora lay below him. Optics drifted towards it. No thoughts or care for it. It just seemed oddly placed. He continued to walk in his deject. He didn't bother to hide or keep to the shadows. If the Decepticons wanted him so badly, they could come and get him. He saw a few swarms of civilian-bred Decepticons roaming about, but after his recent few spats, most didn't want anything to do with him. Actually, most fled. One demanded and threatened Bumblebee to a challenge. The civilian clad Decepticon was twirling a small yellow flower between his claws. Barely yellow as nearly all the pedals had been stripped away. Bumblebee ignored him. He didn't want to kill anymore. He didn't want to murder. He didn't want to fight.

He avoided the confrontation and went on his own way.

So where were the great Decepticon warriors? Shouldn't they be doing their part to rid the pestilence of corrupted sparks that threatened them and their civilians? The fact that they didn't bother to even stumble upon Bumblebee as he walked openly through the streets caused his spark to sink even lower. Was he really that dismissive as a threat to Megatron? The only thing remotely uplifting in his demeanor was the suspicion that he was being watched by a Seeker. Not exactly an uplifting thought. However, not once did a jet or tank come down to make their presence known. After a while Bumblebee dismissed the suspicion. He knew some sensors were direly corrupted and could not work right. He shouldn't be looking into those errors so much, especially if he was imagining that he was being watched. It seemed rather obvious that he wasn't. Their presence would have been surely known.

His shoulders slumped and his parts sagged to the effects of gravity. If his head hadn't been fixated to the concrete floor below him, he might have missed it. Another yellow flower propped up in the rubble. The light in his optic twitched. Bumblebee plucked the flower from its resting place and examined it intently with horror filling his circuits. The flowers _were _being left here on purpose!

"No, no no!" He clattered out in Cybertronian. Optics bounced to his surroundings for any other evidence. Human foot prints, random strands of clothing and other effects easily pointed to three specific people. The flowers were yellow. Clearly its intent to being a calling card. Bumblebee's hands reached up to embrace his head in perplexed thought. He could feel the circuits underneaths want to explode in bilking.

lll

He had seven flowers in his possession now. Different kinds of flowers but each one of them were yellow. It was definitely a calling!

Then he found something else yellow. He cautiously picked it up. The little stuffed toy that Sari had thrown at him back at their last encounter. It was caked with mud and this time, not placed as a beacon. It had been cast aside, or more realistically fell out as they ran.

Something blipped on his scanners for a nanosecond. Something was there?! His head shot up to survey his surroundings. He raked through his processors for more tangible proof, only he couldn't find any. Optics bounced around in determination to find whomever it was that would be watching him now. Maximizing his efforts on his sensors he realized that he must have been misreading the errors embedded after years of abuse. Making him _think _he was being watched. He grated. There was nothing there! Regardless of sensing anything, he couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something. There, from behind! His body turned and his optics pointedly stared at the buildings around him for a sense of an energy signature. If he was being watched, whomever was was doing a good job against being detected. A force field dampener and a spark signature nullifyer completely blocked their presence from him. Optics narrowed, he stepped forward. He could only go on suspicion now. Still nothing.

The paranoia was driving him crazy! He had to find those stupid humans get them back underground, back to somewhere safe! It was simply a matter of finding them before they did! He worked his way to the rooftops to get a more areal view of the world below him. It didn't take him much length in time once his true ambition came forth. As he feared, when he managed their presences in his scanners he heard a terrified scream. One that belonged to Sari.

lllll

"Riley!" Sari screamed for her friend who was now buried under a mound of concrete. Her shotgun swung to her side so she could focus on pulling out chunks and pieces away.

"Sari get out of there!" Marcus hissed as he was laying waste into the Decepticon, but the only waste he seemed to be doing, was wasting bullets. They Decepticon rolled out of the way avoiding them. "Sari!" Marcus screamed. The Decepticon went straight for the girl. "No! I can't loose you both!" He whimpered while his feet fumbled over the rubble to get to Sari's side.

Sari looked up to see the Decepticon fast approaching. She whipped her gun to her front. Power erupted out of the barrel, the for-stock slid back, clinking as it ejected the empty case out, a click as the new round entered the chamber. The gun plowed out another blast, slide, clink, click. BLAST, slide, clink, click. Each shot aimed at the mech's head. Only, not every shot was hitting it's mark. The metal beast growled and reached down to grab her. She skidded out of the way and pulled the barrel up again, another shotgun blast. This time an optic exploded from his face. The creature seethed back and howled in pain as he did. She took this moment to string out more slugs. Adrenaline exploded through her body, but for some reason, she couldn't control it, not this time. Her fingers fumbled over the shells. Her friend was buried below her in a few short seconds she would end up joining him. The first bullet reached the insert of the gun, she fumbled and it tapped onto the ground below her. The Decepticon finished his wail in turn replaced the sound with growls and hisses at her. In retaliation he transformed his chest into a cannon, aiming it just mere feet over her. She froze. The barrel of the alien weapon glowed an ominous orange, she was too frightened to do anything. Her gun clacked across the rubble as it slipped out of her hands. Her eyes pleaded for her body to move, but her brain couldn't manage the command.

The bolt of tumbling yellow rocketed past her as he smashed into the gray Decepticon. She was too stunned to recognize what. Too stunned to move until Marcus's body impacted her, pushing her out of the way as two robots rumbled over them. Marcus didn't push them far enough to safety. Bumblebee was punched back and he nearly toppled onto Sari and Marcus. A heavy metallic joints clunked like crushing tin next and over them. Gears and joints ticked and glided widly over each other as he caught his balance. His optics shot over to Sari and Marcus. Where was the third? Riley's life force wasn't registering on his scanners. Life force scanners redirected to find the last human. There was no pulse coming from a third heart. Redirecting scanners to search for his organic presence. _What?_ His head whipped down, he froze in horror. He landed on him! An unearthly cry from under the mask and Bumblebee jumped off the pile of rubble. Disengaging the Decepticon, Bumblebee began digging through the dusty concrete. He pulled off a large piece of wall. Under that rubble was a bloody and torn body. Bumblebee froze. Then another grated cry of horror escaped from under his mask as Marcus rushed to Riley's side.

The Decepticon wasn't the vicious jet or tank that Bumblebee had expected. Just another lowly civilian turned fighter who was corrupt like Megatron. Bumblebee's response however was exactly what the Decepticon had expected. His optics gleamed as he watched Bumblebee whimper in horror.

"He's not breathing." Marcus announced pulling Riley's body flat on his back and wiping the dust away from his mouth.

"Watch out!" Sari shrieked. The Decepticon took this moment of being ignored to shoot his chest cannon at the humans. Just as the orange white firestorm was about to wash over, Bumblebee jumped in front, shielding Marcus, Riley and Sari from the explosion. The fire flame rocketed around them as it struck Bumblebee's back. The humans screeched with their eyes clamped shut. Then eyes shot open in disbelief as they realized that the yellow robot took the brunt of the hit. Bumblebee slumped in a daze as molten spray coated across his parts. A moment to recover and he then picked himself up. The insect mask shot towards the Decepticon. A sharp snarl and an even sharper fix on the Decepticon. There was one objective on the Autobot's mind. Yellow optics widened when he realized that the dangerous Autobot set his sights on him. Realizing such rumors were true, the Decepticon backed away, ready to make a hasty retreat. As he did, Bumblebee growled and burst towards him. The chase was on!

They rounded the corner, the Decepticon gaining speed as Bumblebee slowed down suffering from his barrage of wounds. He winced and realized that he didn't have the strength to take this Decepticon down. However he refused to give up. Every single rocket missile that Bumblebee had left sprung out into the air and drove into the Decepticon's back. He yelped and slipped behind another building for cover. Behind Bumblebee Marcus was chanting a pattern of numbers. Bumblebee limped on. The bastard! He couldn't let him get away! Screeching tires, the Decepticon tore away from the area in his vehicle form. Bumblebee shrieked in frustration.

"Riley! Come on pal!" Marcus's voice was still being picked up on Bumblebee's sensors. "One, two, three," weak coughing and a cry caused Marcus to shriek with joy. _He was alive!_ Bumblebee stopped and looked back towards the direction of the humans. Though they were out of his ocular vision on account of the distance and buildings in his way, for the first time in a long time his optics looked hopeful. He trotted his return back to the humans, but only made three steps in. Dread washed through his system. His scanners sensed something was watching him. This time, without a doubt. He forced his head to turn to look behind him. He didn't want to, but he had to see what. His optics searched the environment to find nothing. His sensors screamed data into his processors. Dreading the information, his optics drifted higher to the sky. An uncharacteristically colored F15 Eagle fighter hovered over him. He was easy to spot against the gray sky. Ironic that this now colorless world was sporting a dark blue body and blaze orange details of a Decepticon. Decepticon dropped down onto a tall building and was now intently studying him. There was that jet. Military grade. The Seeker! He had been watching Bumblebee! Watching him the entire time! To find out what remained of Bumblebee's small, frail piece of spark that remained. He sent out a low life civilian to start the task, but now he personally was going to destroy it.

_This is why you don't get attached! Bumblebee you idiot! The Decepticons have been following you! They know what your weakness is!_

Fret flooded with Bumblebee. Perhaps his rash disregard would come back to sting him after all.

Bumblebee tore at his full speed back towards the humans. He leapt and initiated his transformation. The Camaro screeched up next to the people, the passenger door flew open.

"Get in!" Bumblebee yelled. Marcus turned back in hostility. A demand like that at a time like this?!

"Can't you see this! I hav-" Marcus spat back in rage.

"GET IN NOW DAMMIT!" Bumblebee shot back culling Marcus's defiance. Fear was saturated in his tone. Marcus's eyes shifted. Even the robot sounded scared. Sari glanced at Marcus and slipped into the driver seat as Marcus picked up the broken body and stepped into the car. Just as he cleared the door, Bumblebee flipped back the passenger seat, slammed the door shut and packed on the speed. Marcus collided with the back seat. Riley's fall was somewhat cushioned by falling into the seat, but even that was too harsh for his frail body. Marcus grabbed the top of the seat and snarled at Bumblebee!

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Before his face could fully turn back to face the front of the car his eyes caught the up close and personal view of missiles heading straight towards them. The car spun to the side as streams of silver continued straight impacting the tar and sending an explosion of fire and concrete around them. Not even on a good day could Bumblebee take a pristine and healthy Seeker out by himself. And this, has not been a good day. It hasn't even been a good two years! The seeker knew this. Terrorizing him was much more entertaining than actually hurting the Autobot.

"I need to get underground!"

"Is that Megatron!?" Marcus watched the F15 Eagle fighter transform and land on top of another building. He didn't recall orange when he saw Megatron before, but they all looked the same to him. The Eagle was idly taking his time as he watched Bumblebee flee.

"No. Directions! Underground! What's my nearest path?"

"Uh, turn left."

Bumblebee didn't turn left, he swerved around another volley of explosions.

"Give me street names!"

"Get to Sixth and Witmer!-" Marcus partially glanced back. He saw Bumblebee's intended direction. "Bee you can't, that way's been destroyed!"

A racket of cybertronian swearing. Bumblebee slid into a parking garage to give him shielding from the aerial attacks that decorated the sky.

"Riley listen to me, we'll be okay, We'll ju-" Sari mumbled trying to contain her panic and mostly to give her dying friend reason to fight.

"We are _not _okay! He's just toying with us!" Bumblebee snapped. He failed to realize why humans would lie like that.

"We need to get Riley to a hospital!" Marcus shouted.

"Hospital?" Bee hissed in disbelief. That's what Marcus meant by Sixth and Witmer.

"Yes, hospital! Good Sa-"

"Don't say it!" Bumblebee snapped. Last thing he needed was to give the jet a new play place.

"Bumblebee! That way!" Sari pointed out a direction. "Go left!"

The car tore away from his cover as three tires burned pseudo rubber into the asphalt. He didn't get far before the jet landed in front of his path. Too late for Bumblebee to change directions or even stop. He banked off the Decepticon's foot and a weight crushed down on top of him. Tires squealed to try and escape from his pin.

"Pathetic Autobot." Dirge hissed in their language as Bumblebee skidded under him. His grip released and he watched the Autobot zip across the road below him.

"Head South!" Sari directed.

"Sari I need to get underground!"

"We need to get Riley to a hospital!" Marcus fought again.

"He's not going anywhere if I-" an explosion erupted all around him, finishing Bumblebee's point for him.

"Turn here! Turn here!" Sari commanded, Bumblebee obeyed. "Tunnel there!" Again he obeyed. The tore hole from the tunnel to a service station was Bumblebee's direction before anyone could order it.

But being underground didn't give him the protection he was hoping for. The overhead collapsed as the jet smashed through the ground trying to stop him. Rock, concrete and dirt cascaded around Bumblebee. He tried to speed out of there as quickly as his tires could but he was caught on something. Dirge had reached over and snatched Bumblebee's undercarriage from behind.

"Dammit let go!" Bumblebee howled at him in Cybertronian, as if that would do him any good. His remaining good front wheel tried to grasp at the ground below him as he was slowly being pulled back.

"Let you go? And what even makes you think I won't kill you right now!?" Was the expected response. What wasn't expected was that while he was laughing, his grip released, allowing Bumblebee's wheels to sputter and skid across the ground. "Want to know why you worthless piece of tin?" Another spray of material into the air as another hole was made in the ceiling above him. "Because Megatron wants me to give you a message!"

"Message?" Bumblebee questioned to himself as he continued down the tunnels. He could still hear Dirge's laughter echoing down the walls. Then words.

"You think destroying that cesspool of humans did anything? Lord Megatron has more than enough energon from this planet. And what you blew up, he will simply work the humans harder to make up for." A pause to listen to where Bumblebee would be. Then the jet dive bombed again, nearly crushing the Camaro. Another spray of material. "All you ended up doing, is making you're beloved pets suffer even more!"

A whimpering groan from Bumblebee. Maybe he should just stop running and give them what they want. To rid themselves of such a pest. Since he couldn't do anything against them, there wasn't a point for him to even exist.

And then there was the coughing out of weak lungs. He needed to get Riley help! Amidst the fire-less explosions and his self wallowing thoughts, he found a directive to focus on. Speed pealed into his tires as he headed towards the hospital, amazed that it would somehow even be in use.

But something that important would obviously have it's protections. The blue-gray lasers crisscrossed across his path with no way to jump over them. And too little too late he realized that the signal he used to deactivate them, simply did not work.

His passengers warned him too late. Breaks slammed his breaks too late. His momentum carried him forward. His horror prevented him from uttering a sound, until it was too late.

He thought he felt the spark disruptor's pain when he was coated in the back wash of it a few times prior, however, it was nothing that could prepare himself for the new pain that wrapped it's way into every atom of his structure as he was hit directly by the bomb. Chunks of rock broke from the wall, and pure pain blighted over him, if he had the sense to hope, it would have been that the death would be instant.

It wasn't. The white light faded down the tunnels and he was still feel the terrible effects rush through his systems.

Marcus and Sari went into a fit of yelling at Bumblebee. Their voices echoed across his sensors in a warble. Everything was in too much disarray to focus.

Shocked stillness. Then heavy breaths as two brains struggled with the most recent event. In these short minutes they lost one comrade and the other was on the verge of loosing his life. The robot they just spent a week trying to find, gone.

Riley wheezed, drawing Marcus's attention. Then his eyes caught the ceiling blowing apart behind them. The Decepticon was laughing in his static language. He then dropped down, half emerged on their level. Red optics gleamed in delight.

"Oh shit! We're all dead." Marcus swallowed down the fear crawling throughout his body. Then, he just realized something. Even though he was gone, Bumblebee was still a car. Self preservation kicked in before regret or remorse. "Sari, you have to drive!" Sari's horrified eyes turned to him. "Go drive!"

A clattering of noise while Sari turned the engine over, the Decepticon was breaking through the barrier between them, trying to get to the yellow car. The car rumbled sickly but it put forth the energy needed to flood the tires in speed. Sari slammed down the peddle. Gas flooded the engine. The Decepticon laughed even harder as the vehicle sped away from him.

Pulling out of the tunnels, the Decepticon continued to follow them from above. Occasionally smashing through to keep good audio on them and remind them that he wasn't going to just go away. It was obvious that he was focused on playing with them rather than trying to kill them. Meanwhile Sari continued to drive, though it wasn't without noticing that the engine and the gas pedal were jerky. The farther she went the more the wheel and engine felt like it was fighting against her.

Then the Decepticon got what he was waiting for, Bumblebee finally summed up the strength he needed. "SARI! STOP IT! YOU'RE KILLING ME!" Bumblebee's voice suddenly pierced the atmosphere. Immediately Sari leapt away from the wheel and peddles. The entire car shuttered as he fought with his engine to cease then it slumped onto his tires. Sari went into a fit of shock.

"Tell me Autobot!" Dirge yelled from overhead in English. "Are they worth it?" The sound of a suffering Autobot was like sweet, sweet music to his ears. It was a satisfying end to his game. The Autobot's own pets were causing him such torture. Dirge cackled static laughter into the air until eventually he grew bored. The glowing eyes disappeared and the laughter dissipated.

Eyes wide, Marcus surveyed the area. At any time he was expecting the Decepticon to crash into them again. His ears pricked up to pick up everything. Sari's muffled cry, Riley's wheezing breaths, the painful moan from deep inside the engine but no loud crashing, no hissing of laughter. He was gone. Then Riley went into a fit of sputtering blood. His time was running far too short.

Marcus's fist came to his lips as he rocked slightly at the dire predicament. They were still too far to run to get Riley help in time, but on the other side, Bumblebee did in fact seem to be immune to the spark disruptor. He swallowed and cleared his throat. "We have to keep going. We have to!"

"Marcus!" Sari shrieked. "I can't! We'll kill Bumblebee!"

Riley was coughing up blood! "Sari! It's either him or Riley!" Marcus snapped, turning to her with determined eyes. They caught Sari's horrified. Marcus's drew back with a ting of regret. Despite knowing who he wanted to save he couldn't force Sari to kill her other friend. His eyes glistened with liquid and his hand balled into a fist and was pressed against his forehead. "Riley. Dammit." He pleaded weakly.

Hot, steaming, sludgy fluid dripped off of Riley's body and slowly filled in between Bumblebee's seat. Such a horrible sensation. Despite all his sensors flaring up in their own ill-fated death, he could still feel that thick blood.

"Damnit!" Bumblebee growled weakly. Engines flooded with energy. Bumblebee howled in pain at his own actions.

"Bumblebee stop it!" Sari shrieked again, grabbing the wheel trying to brace something to shake Bumblebee back to his senses. He however protested in his own way, sliding her seat back and tying her down with his seat belt. She quavered in protest and tried to free herself.

Meanwhile, Bumblebee fought against his pain and his engine growled to life. _Focus- objective! _His engine vamped, speed worked its way through his tires. He clenched everything he had to make himself move. He continued through the ground cut tunnels to the hospital. Pushing past the grueling pain he navigated through the tunnels by old internet maps and guess work. He could feel his mind slipping at every rotation of his engine as he made his approach to the underground entrance. There he stopped, refusing to push his body forward. There he collapsed into his tires and chassis. The engine sputtered to silence.

"Bumblebee?" Sari whimpered. "Bumblebee!" Turned into a yell. Marcus picked up the boy and slipped out of the passenger side door. No time to say anything, no time to look back. He ran with Riley in his arms, disappearing inside the building. "Bumblebee?" She whispered, her fingers pursed around the steering wheel. He was unresponsive. She whispered and dropped her body around his steering wheel. Hugging it, crying out for him.

lllll  
Hours passed.

Sari and Marcus stood back quietly as Gilbrik walked around the car with his finger and thumb wrapped around his chin in thought. And here he thought he got out of this job title of robot practitioner. Of course this was different. This was the first time he was ever asked to bring one back to life. Most often or not, he was told to kill them and make sure they stayed dead the first time.

"You said you've worked with these things right? Is there anyway to restart him?" Marcus sounded rather somber, understandable considering that he had no idea how things were going with Riley. He tried to dismiss that fact and the one of realizing that he was still covered in the kid's blood. The scientist looked over the two for a long, silent moment. The girls eyes were red and swollen. She was fighting hard to deaden her emotions and the man looked defeated himself. Their friend was in serious condition and hospitals didn't have all the resources like they used to. Hospital. There weren't too many hospitals any more either. His gaze slowly shifted down at the yellow vehicle.

"Not quite. We've been able to get a few up and running for a few hours at a time, but it requires an extraordinary amount of energy. Usually burning through eighty liters of energon per hour. It's just not practical." He shook his head. "I know that there is a lot of research dedicated to understanding how their energy cores work. For our own advancements, so that we could use them as a near perfect energy source. They are far more self-sustaining with very little pollution, if any. Unfortunately there is just still too much we don't know about these creatures. We have yet to successfully restart them or even build one."

"So,-" Marcus's voice drifted. That was it then. He's gone. Salty saliva slipped down his throat in a quite gulp. "Sari, why don't you go check and see how Riley's doing." Her eyes cast him a wayward glance. He was a coward for sending her off like this. What if Riley was dead, then she'd be the one to take the brunt of two deaths. Before he could recant his order, she quietly slipped off towards the functioning part of the hospital. If anything she wanted to find a quiet place to grieve. Now she was gone and he was left there in silence. Gilbrik seemed more interested in looking the car over rather than acknowledge Marcus's presence. But Marcus desperately needed a distraction. "So, what's a big robot scientist like yourself doing in a place like this?"

The man looked back at him after running his hand over the marred yellow paint job and placing a tool back into his shirt pocket.

"Well, uh to be honest, I don't have a very good working chemistry with Simmons. Not to, be judgmental or anything but, he was a little too- obsessive with those robots for my tastes." His eyes darted in thought then back out again. He then cast a watchful eye at Marcus as if his thoughts somehow betrayed him. "Among other reasons. Anyways, I needed to do something where I would be useful. So I came here." His voice was eerily mild and pleasant. Marcus nodded numbly. After a moments pause. "You know, considering this one made it out of two indirect hits, and was still conscious after a direct hit, there may be a chance he's still kicking in there somewhere."

"You mean? He could still be alive?!"

"It's Possible. Although I'm worried about the stress of driving him afterwards. That could've proved to be fatal, but we won't know that until we have a closer look. Shall we?" Into the driver's side to pop the hood. The hood was lifted and Gilbrick reached into the engine and grasped and pulled on the wires coated in rubber or plastic. They shifted under his force like a normal car's would.

"Well he's still pliable. Rigamortis hasn't set in."

"Rigamortis?" Marcus questioned with a furrow in his brow.

"Yes, we're still working on the terminology." He added bashfully. "Basically what it means is, think of a pane of glass. It's solid, or so you think but in reality the particles are actually flowing. Glass is actually the liquid form of sand, just as these creatures bodies are a form of liquid that hold properties of metal. A living metal, as it were. So when they die, the metal starts to harden and stiffen."

Another gulp to drain the sludge of liquid building in his throat. Sure alive was the term he used for 'turned on' but it was the first admission someone spoke of that suggested these robots were actually living creatures.

He then pulled out another medical tool. If there was any other time in any other reality, taking a stethoscope to a car engine would probably be viewed as the most ridiculous thing ever. The metal end clanked quietly as it rested up on the engine block. He then took meticulous time listening to every piece of metal under the engine.

"What are you looking for? His spark?"

"Correct. It tends to be a lot easier to find in his robotic mode for obvious reasons. They tend to keep it well protected in the thickest walls of metal. That being the case, this is likely where it's hidden, although that is only just an educated guess. The creatures are quite amazing I must say, if you were to pull apart his engine, outside of having to cut most of it apart rather than remove a few bolts, they are almost identical. Which doesn't allow much room for his core. So, really it could be anywhere."

"So it could be in his gas tank for all you know?"

"That's right. But again, this device could be considered the heart. I wouldn't think the gas tank would be a very secure place. Besides, from my understanding, it tends to be in a rather assessable location for their medics as well as any emergency spark parings that might be needed."

"Spark parings?" Marcus rolled over the two words slowly. Again confusion furrowed his brow. "What is that? And how would you know something like that?"

Gilbrick ignored Marcus as he found something interesting under the hood. "I might have found something."

"What?"

"It could be nothing, but it could be something."

Marcus stiffened. "Something like, alive something?"

"I can't say for sure. If it is, it's so weak I wouldn't expect it to go on much longer."

"So there isn't anything you can do?" A drained tone.

"Well, actually?" Gilbrick turned and walked over to pick over some shelves. He pulled out a pair of jumper cables. "Like I said about the engine, every part of this creature is meticulously imitated to resemble a real car. Even the chemical properties of the components are carefully replicated. Mimicked glass, metal, even rust. "He mumbled something for his own curiosity," Although I do believe they suffer from their own sort of diseases that we would consider rusting. Now he doesn't nominally run on fuel like gasoline or pull electricity from his battery. Rather his energy is redirected from his core, but," the word was strained as he leaned over the engine. The clamp was placed on its respective charge. "I imagine if we hook up a battery charger to this," then the other clamp, "it might force our energy into his systems. It might keep him up and running until we can find his core and maybe administer some energon. It's at least worth a try." Then he went off to look through a set of generators. One was selected.

His thin frame struggled with dragging the heavy equipment over. Marcus gave him a helping hand, and mostly took over the task.

"And, you think that might work?" Marcus sounded optimistic although skeptical at the idea.

"Well, I worked more with the properties of energon rather than with these machines. After _him_ I couldn't stand to- anyways I could send a message to send someone over for a second opinion. But I warn you, the person I have in mind, doesn't particularly have kind feelings towards them."

"Look, I don't really care, just bring him back."

lllll

"How is he?" Marcus cringed waiting for the answer.

"He's, hanging in there." Sari replied, her hands wrapped around her as she was slumped into the chair. Her tone was flat.

"Yeah? Sounds like Bumble is too." Her eyes went hopeful. She looked at him to see if he was serious. He nodded in return. "There's another scientist coming in either tomorrow or the day after. We'll know how Bumblebee is fairing then."

lllll

He couldn't move. He couldn't move! He wasn't in stasis lock obviously, but he could just feel that his systems were so weak, he should have been. Then there was the constant sting shooting up into his body and he couldn't do anything to make it stop. He couldn't focus. All his scanners were so fuzzy. Where he was? He tried to pinpoint what had happened only his memory was too fogged up as well. He could hear the warble of voices. Nothing percipient though. His blurry visual sensors picked up movement. At the moment he forced focus, everything went dark again.

lllll

"Greetings Marie. It's a pleasure to receive you here." Gilbrick vigorously shook her hand. She gave him a stoic look in response while allowing his grasp on her hand. "Marcus, this is Marie Jenner. She has been working on these creatures quite extensively for the past two years." Gilbrick announced.

Marcus bit his tongue and his enthusiastic approach. She didn't seem interested in being greeted. He decided to get straight to the point instead.

"So, can you do anything to help him."

She revered him with a cold glance. She disregarded him and approached the exposed engine. "How long has he been like this?"

"Let's see, well it's been over forty-eight hours." The resident scientist explained. "Fifty two hours give or take."

"Any movements? Sounds? Any sign of life?"

"No, unfortunately not."

"Hmm." She pulled out a few scanners and lined them across the base of the car's body. The first one she picked up and ran the sensor across the engine. It fizzled to life with static. "Delightful." She muttered to herself. She lifted her hand and glanced at her watch. A few more devices were picked up and tested. "Well, he isn't dead." She stiffened. "But I can't work on him right now."

"Why not?" An exasperated question. She was going to answer it anyways, but was interrupted. She gave a moment to her irritation for the interruption before continuing.

"Both of his is force fields are compromised, due to his weak energy level. His internal shielding is to protect his core as well as prevent additional radiation from pouring out into the room. It's a radiation that we don't have very much conclusive data about. For decades we've tried to get an element past one fourteen. And these guys have that Chemistry unicorn just, floating around in their chest." At this moment there was awe and irritation mixed in with her voice. She glanced over to realize that two of the three people before her had no idea what she was talking about. "Ever hear of something called the Island of Stability?" She scoffed in mild amusement when the glint of their eyes told her they hadn't. Back to irritation, Gilbrick can explain it later if they so desperately wanted to know what that was. "We're not even sure if it harms humans, but given how nasty energon can affect a person, I am not willing to take chances." She began slipping her tools back in her case. "He's still alive and that's what's important right now." She reached over and cranked up the amount of electricity would be flowing into the car. "I refuse to work on him until his shields come back online. Dr. Gilbrick, I think your jumper idea will work to stabilize him until then. In the meantime, this room is to be closed off."

lllll

A few more days passed by. Whether or not the energy being forced into his battery was working or not was debatable. Nobody however chanced to remove the clamps as Bumblebee continued to survive.

lllll

"I can't believe that he made it out of that disruptor. I mean, I heard of some being immune to them, but I thought that was usually the bigger ones." A small group had collected to share their thoughts and listen to the experts.

"I was hoping it was an urban myth."

"Well, it was always my hypothesis that surviving indirect hits made them more immune to the disruptors effects. Though I do not believe that was ever tested." Gilbrik tried to put some insight on this strange predicament.

"No. What makes them immune to spark disruptor is their over all health and in the case of your little sports car, the effect the cube has had on him. That is what made him resistant."

"Cube? As in cube that makes monitors and cellphones into killer robots?!"

She nodded. Marcus dabbled his fork into his white mashed food as he drifted away in thought. A quick memory flashed inside his mind.

"So what does it do to them? I mean, how does shit just come to life like that?"

"We don't know half of what's going on in our world, you really think we would know anything about theirs? What we do know is that it has made Megatron invincible. And we know that the cube has changed that yellow robot."

A clammer of surprised exclamations and questions erupted the room.

"It gave him is voice back." Marcus interrupted, trying to calm the people down. Giving them something mild for their minds to latch onto. It wasn't mild enough.

Then the topic went sour. "So it's true then! That robot has been with Megatron just like Seven said! Oh man, oh shit! They know then! It was only a matter of time before they sent one of their best scouts." Telling the group that Bumblebee was a scout, really came back to bite them in the ass.

"We don't know that!" Marcus jumped to his feet trying to stop any paranoia and panic before it went into full blown chaos.

"Bullshit! Geezus, he's right below a hospital! Do you have any idea how long it took to get this hospital to work again! You lead him here!"

Oh shit. Yells and accusations erupted and were directed to Marcus. Where the hell was Sari when he managed to get into this trouble.

"Dammit listen to me!" His hand raised to quell their outbursts. "First of all, he has never had the slightest interest in City. He's spent most of his time taking on Decepticons. He's killed a shitload and in return the Decepticons kicked the shit outta him. Come on you can't-"

"That's not really saying much though, is it?" Marie addressed his statements. "Decepticons attack and kill in order to get higher in their ranks." Just as Gilbrick warned, she wasn't a friend to the mechanoids. Marcus glared at her, feeling trapped. Before he could defend himself, Marie added on with her professional experience. "I've worked with these things for nearly two years now. I know how they think and I know how they work. They are deceitful and they are mimickers. The only thing they care about is their objectives."

"Yeah but he has risked his life to get Riley here. That's the only reason why he's at the hospital now is because we needed to get Riley help!"

"I understand. But you have to take in account this isn't the first time they have played face to get what they want. I'm sure you're very familiar with Outpost Five." She had Marcus in a trap and she knew it.

"We should kill it! Kill it while it's too weak to fight back!"

"No." Marie interrupted. The room went into silence. "It would be a horrible waste of a perfectly good test subject."

"Test subject?"

"That's right. I would not be here otherwise." Cold ice washed over Marcus at that statement. Weeks passed by as she continued to work on Bumblebee. This was why. "This robot has been affected by the cube's energy. You have no idea how _much_ resources we've dumped into capturing this this damn thing! And now that we have him, we most certainly will not let him slip through our grasp again!"

"Who's we?" Marcus questioned feebly, already knowing the answer.

"Simmons. You all know him by his code name, Seven."

He hated it when the robot was right. Without Bumblebee split open and pinned over Simmon's examining table, Simmons won't work on the weapon to take out Megatron. Now he really felt like he was in between a rock and a hard place.

lllll

There was the rumbling of generators but otherwise everything was too quiet. She desperately wanted to hear the buckling of metal on metal. Her grasp on his steering wheel tightened. They said that he was still alive, but she couldn't sense it. Her lungs were heavy with sadness and they whimpered for air. Her head rested and her eyes settled on the growing bouquet of flowers. She had given Bumblebee one flower every day she came to visit. Between Bumblebee and Riley it was the horrible reminder that she had been caught up in a world marked for extinction. Yes Bumblebee was an exception, although the exception was not given to him. Not without some sort of return. She didn't need to listen to the others talk beyond these doors to know what they were planning. If anything, that woman was probably doing something to make sure Bumblebee stayed weak. Her eyes narrowed, her hand delicately dragged across his keys. Too subtle for her senses, Bumblebee tensed below her.

Everything was so vertiginous he couldn't even grasp who was inside him. Someone was and he didn't like it. They touched his keys and he expected an explosion of pain and an ill-fated thrust into his systems. He was too weak to lock himself up. Nothing would move under his will, nor others without getting forced into a stasis lock. A fogged sense of relief when he could no longer feel her touch at his ignition. He couldn't feel his metal there either. His keys were gone. Not that he cared at this point. He didn't have the strength to rejuvenate them, but he wouldn't attempt to turn his engine over any time soon anyways. He slipped back into his recharge, fighting to pull out of it every chance he could to vaguely examine his predicament. Most of the times it wasn't pleasant. If anything there was always the constant stinging sensation driving into his engine. Other times he could sense someone rummaging around under his hood and dash, that is, until they did something to force him back into a stasis lock. All this time he was waiting for his senses to dip into oblivion, and never return.

lllll

Sari's eyes went wide with rage. Rage focused at Marcus. "You two faced, back stabbing son of a bitch!" Wild eyes dodged to the others in the room, realizing that she was alone in her defense. She hissed out her curses and stormed out of the room. Marcus made no attempt to go after her. He just exhaled sharply as he watched her leave. He had to tell her, he had to tell her everything. She was able to deduce enough by herself anyways, but Marcus was forced to take sides. If they wanted Bumblebee to survive, he had to be turned over to Simmons.

He glanced over at Marie. He had to stifle his own rage as a cocky half smile warped her face.

Unmoving, uncontrolled stillness. Though he wasn't completely gone. In fact he had enough focus to grasp most of the conversation that had went on around him. Now a single thought made it through his hazy mind. After everything he's done for them! He was betrayed by Marcus! Long lingering moments for that horror to sink in, then a biting rage with the desire to tear Marcus, the female and Simmons to pieces. He knew he recognized her when his senses were strong enough to get a hazy fix on her face. She was there next to Simmons when he thrust that drill after his spark! He'd rip them all apart! He commanded his body to move, but nothing would happen! Nothing except the realization that attempts would cause his mind to slip. There wasn't an ounce of strength in him. Just barely the energy to keep his mind a float. Marie turned and leaned over his hood. There was no strength he could force to slam his hood on to her. Trying to only put him closer to limbo. He was reduced to groveling in his own mind, whimpering for her not to touch her. To no effect, her grimy hand slid onto his metal and in a mild jolt of pain, he went unconscious again.

lllll  
lllll

He wasn't supposed to break his disguise but sometimes, it had to be done. He slipped in between the trees avoiding the helicopters that were floating above him. The air echoed the sounds of their ticking blades. Behind him engines from smaller sized vehicles rippled over the landscape. It all started innocently enough, apparently red and blue lights were a signal for doing a disservice on the road. He failed to pull over and in a way it blew his cover. Not that it mattered, his hologram wasn't exactly the strongest, nor did he have a voice to put to it. Using it was rather useless. Coupled with the recognition that in the past the identity of his duplicated vehicle form had betrayed him, but things seemed quiet enough for him to pay no mind. That is, until he was noticed and checked by a state patrol car for speeding. It had alerted them once again. Now he had to deal with his first tangible confrontation with Sector Seven. Fleeing by road proved no effect once the helicopters reigned in, he took to the trees for cover. They were quick to follow and his car form was too limited to bypass the tight croppings between the trees and the fell logs. In his natural state he ran through the obstacle course, knowing how hazardous it was if he were to be spotted. Mostly for the humans' well being rather than his own. He was already known by _them, _the men in black, to be unnatural to this world, there was no real point risking capture if he could simply run away in his bipedal form through the thick covering of the forest. Small bullets sprayed through the canopy and laced into his body. They penetrated his force field with ease but did nothing but ping him with stinging sensations. Completely ignorable except for the one stray bullet that just managed to clip his voice processor. It was insult rather than injury but the sharp burst on such tender circuitry caused him to jump back in surprise. That's when the helicopter hung in view. Now they, for sure, had a good look at him. Without a moment more, Bumblebee slipped back into cover, and not long after had slipped out of their grasp.

That encounter had only bolstered their efforts.

At least they were careful never to take him on again in populated areas. They, like him, knew the risks of exposure to the general population. It would give rise to panic at the discovery of a giant alien lurking in their mist. The humans had become cleaver though, getting bored of the usual cat and mouse game, always loosing when Bumblebee became privy to their presence. They sent out radiation that mimicked the All Spark. A trap. It was then and there when Bumblebee picked up the idea that Megatron was still somehow alive. At least that is what Non Biological One seemed to connote. That should have been his warning right then and there. He knew that a file containing information on an Archibald Witwicky was hidden deep in the recesses of the CIA that gave reference to an Ice Man or the more circuit wrenching name, Mega Man. It was vague, there were more detailed reports elsewhere he was sure of that, but that knowledge wasn't so easily obtainable. Not without violence. But the file he did have was given great consideration by Optimus. Obviously the hundred year old file should not exist in a digital format. The fact that it was, made everything perplexing and foreboding. Everything should have fallen into place, but sometimes the most obvious isn't spotted until after it's smack dab right in front of one's face.

Megatron. All Spark. One location.

And of course, the Decepticons were all over it.

That moment was discovered by Bumblebee when he was locked down with blasts of energy jolted into his system. Some foreign, some terrifyingly familiar. Like the All Spark. There was the realization that Megatron was just moments grasp away from the all powerful cube. There was the realization that soon the Decepticons would befall the place, and the Autobots would loose. The humans would loose.

Was it fitting to loose Earth? After all, for the past one hundred years, Megatron had been experimented on. Bumblebee only spent one night under the knife, one night to ring in and out of consciousness. One to wake up to the realization that Megatron was next to him separated by a room, the second, was to sense that his armor had been breached. Pitted open and his spark exposed for all to see. It didn't stay that way long, as soon as his senses came to enough, he was quick to protect himself, but apparently only after something was nestled under it.

Simmons spying on him the entire time! Then to make matters worse, bore into his body to tear away at his spark. In attempt to bleed his body dry of his precious life. To continue to hunt him down after everything just so he could perform the terrifying procedure he failed to to play the first time! To send soldiers out after him, to get his comrade to turn against him!

His senses pulsed alive again. To the reaction of a human attempting to pry open his hood. The human was talking, and this time, Bumblebee could find the focus to resist him and to listen to what he was saying at the same time. Rage burned inside him when he recognized who was at his front. Marcus.

"Did he do this?" Marcus asked while prying his fingers into the slumped hood. He braced himself and in surprise discovered that lifting the hood was a difficult task. "Geez, he's resisting!"

"That's good!" Gilbrick exclaimed. He rushed to the car's front and in feeble-mindedness watched Marcus struggle. "It means he's getting some of his strength back."

"That's great Doc, can you, like help?" Marcus strained under the pressure. Gilbrick at suggestion exclaimed and was quick to give a hand. Between the two of them, they managed to get the hood up and the brace in place.

Bumblebee wanted to scream out when he failed to resist them. Failed to keep him away.

"Wow, suckers getting strong!"

"Ah, I'd say if we were able to manhandle him, that he is still quite weak."

Weak indeed. It took him hours to master the strength of just getting his brace out of way. Managing the strength to crush a pitiful humans fingers was impossible. Damn them!

"Right." Marcus muttered. His eyes dropped on the engine below him. They twisted at the acknowledgment that most of the pieces bore scratches and gouges in some way or form. Amazing that he even worked at all. His eyes drifted lower. Bumblebee's right side had a large hole and a gash from Simmons's drill. His left tire and bumper looked like it had been shredded. He knelt down and gently brushed his hand up against the tattered metal.

Gilbrick realized what caught Marcus's attention. "He is quite an amazing specimen." He nodded, his eyes lit up behind old scratched glasses. "I have never seen one with such extensive damage that continued to be operational."

"yeah." Marcus mumbled again, this time entrenched deep into rueful thoughts. The car was near shredded in other areas as well. Even more were stained with his unique color of coolant. "You really think she can bring him back?"

"Well, considering just now, it looks promising."

"That's good. And you're going to back me up on this? I got a lot of flak over this from Sari. She'll never forgive me if this goes south. Screw that, she'd probably never forgive me anyways." He pulled an amused smile but it failed to mask his hurt.

"She will. And you have my word. And as far as I know, I do believe the others are willing to help out in any way that they can. That is, if you do promise that he isn't a threat."

"Yeah well, it's not often you have a robot risk their life to save some kid. Trust me, he won't hurt anyone."

lllll

Trust you?! How dare Marcus command such integrity! Especially after what he's done!

Hours after they left, Bumblebee's mind still festered with dark musings. He wanted them to pay for the harm they've caused him. Slowly and surely he could feel his strength return, irritably thanks to that witch. All under the pretense of bringing him back. Not so, she just wanted him alive enough so that Simmons could vivisection him. After all, what fun would it be for him to rip him apart after he was dead? Amazing that the Decepticons hadn't instead buddied up with these humans. He could just imagine it now, the Decepticons slowly torturing a poor sap until their spark gives out, then the humans would jump right back in and put jumper cables and start them right back up just so they could have a go at ripping into their bodies!

His irritation eventually spun towards the physical irritation of the metal clamps that were throwing the constant force of electricity into his system. His body refused to be commanded to elevate himself from their hold. At least this time when he tried to move, it didn't throw him back into stasis locks. Still he grumbled to himself, having to deal with the uncomfortable sensation.

Then there was the noise of the human door opening. All angered senses focused on the figure an the door. She approached him carefully and quietly. Not even bothering with turning on the lights in the large room. A room that he came to realize was heavily fortified with metal and no recognizable door large enough for him to get out through. A prison cell for the robot apparently.

"Hi Mr. Bumblebee." Her voice was so quiet and soft. Her hands were clasped around a small sunflower. "I'm sorry for not visiting sooner. Riley's been-" She trailed off. Making excuses didn't make her feel any better. Her pained eyes looked him carefully. She stepped towards his door and wrapped herself around the roof of him. "I'm sorry."

At first it was irritation at her presence. What could she possibly want? But as the hours lingered on, it became quite clear that she just wanted to be in his presence and quietly weep to herself. It was disconcerting but in the end he couldn't help but feel bad for her. Bumblebee quietly looked her over. His spark twisted. Sari was on the verge of loosing her friend. How could she handle it if he took out Marcus. Guilt riddled him, he couldn't do that to her. Despite everything, he couldn't hurt her, even if it was inadvertently.

He just couldn't. Not her.

lllll

Now let's see if that witch could get her grubby little hands into his system! He finally gained the strength to lock his hood and doors down tight. The damn wires were still in place, but that irritation was mild enough to ignore. They could not get past his armored shell and that's exactly how he wanted things. Although they had their own precautions set into place as well. His tires were braced by locks and the woman had removed some of his parts. Nothing major. Except of how it hindered his ability to work his engine. The Spark plugs for exampled were laid on a table just out of his reach. Normally it wouldn't be a problem as he would just regenerate them like he would a lost set of keys or his missiles or bullets, but he didn't have the strength to heal let along rejuvenate himself. Without them he couldn't get the human designed engine to work. He should just be relieved enough that his spark's hidden location couldn't be simply removed.

Just like clockwork the door opened for the scientists daily docket. Like usual Marcus was there to accompany them. Sari used to but she like Bumblebee didn't want anything to do with them. As Gilbrick and Jenner struggled and failed to breach past his defenses, for once, Bumblebee felt smug. He only had the strength to keep them out, it was only a matter of time he would make sure they never bothered him again. Defiantly, they spent hours trying to crack his safe, but in the end they resorted to their failure. Bumblebee's smug disposition faded quickly in the light that Marie seemed pleased with this turn of events, his progress. She made sure that her defenses were in place and then she strolled out of the room glowing with great triumph. The resident scientist followed as any other random bodies Bumblebee knew nothing about.

Marcus, however, stayed behind.

"Feeling better are we?" Although Marcus's body faced the small human door he addressed the car. The Camaro sat quietly festering at the rage of his efforts going to waste. The man took a step towards the car. The car in turn rolled back on his wheels, but the tire lock contained his movement. His hand went down onto the hood. Marcus's touch, Bumblebee fixed on the sensory information in disgust.

"Get away from me!" His tone was attempting to be dry from emotions. A bright glint crossed over Marcus's eyes before they dimmed again at Bumblebee's disposition.

"Back to you're old self I see."

"Get. Your hand. Off me."

Marcus furrowed his brows and gave a disbelieving look at the threat in Bumblebee's voice. Then without a moment's warning the hood whipped up and snapped down threatening Marcus's hand. He would have never caught it, but it caused Marcus to back away regardless. At least that was something.

"What the hell!" Marcus exclaimed.

The wheel trap clanked sharply as Bumblebee tried to spin away from Marcus. Bumblebee used his efforts to break the wheel lock, it clanked again at his two attempts. He gave up and redirected his attention to Marcus.

"How could you do this to me? My obligations were met! I risked everything to get you that energon! I risked my life!" A growl. "But just risking it isn't good enough for you!" A moment for a growth in steam. His tone lowered to menacing rather than just angered. "But I won't let him have it. I swear to you, I _will_ kill anyone who tries to bring me to Simmons! I will kill Simmons himself if he ever gets near me! He will not have my life!"

_"Son of a -_ Dammit! Don't be saying shit like that!" Marcus snapped back, lowering his voice, trying to make it more quiet. He didn't want outside voices to hear this.

"Why not? You should be delighted to hear these words. You've been trying so hard to bring those words out! Even giving me a tour of Outpost Five just so you can remind me what I'd be capable of! Well here is my proclamation! I am _monster_!" Bumblebee waited for a response, but the human didn't say anything. Marcus just watched him cautiously in festering in silence. A horde of negative emotions poured over Bumblebee. It was difficult to just grasp onto just one. The emotions leveled and he attempted to be more clear headed.

"I have a confession Marcus." The tone of his voice dribbled with sinister banter. Bumblebee took a moment to grasp his words together. The gritting burning sensation poured across his sensors at the thought that he not only had these thoughts, but was ready to act on them. _But he couldn't hurt her._ The realization snapped him into a new ocean of emotions. He twitched back to focus on Marcus. He made a realization. The most heavy hitting emotion he felt right now, was shame. _Shame._ His voice changed to reflect his grasp. "I wanted to kill you." He could see Marcus tense. Other senses weren't peaked high enough to sense the surge of adrenaline in his systems, but Bumblebee could guess it anyways. "When you-"

Marcus waited to hear more but the more Bumblebee riffled through his thoughts, he realized that he suffered from shame more than he did of anger. Shame more than any other emotion.

Shame did not qualify him to harm to an innocent who just wanted to rid his planet of the tyrant who was destroying it. Silence flooded the room as Bumblebee tried to sort through the engulfing swarm of negative emotions throughout his processors. It completely cracked his anger away leaving behind a feeling of lost and worthlessness. "I just, I felt so betrayed." A pause. "I don't know why. You never afforded me any inclination of trust. I should have never expected any in return." Tires creaked as he slowly shuffled his body backwards. Away from Marcus. "I'm sorry." What a hollow thing to say, it didn't afford Marcus any safe keeping and it certainly didn't alleviate any of his guilt. He tucked himself into his chassis and quietly locked himself down again. "Please just leave me alone." His voice was quiet and hurt.

He wasn't even granted solitude. Marcus approached and rest his hand down on Bumblebee's hood again. A racket of grinding metal encroached the air. Not a natural sound and Marcus correctly guess that it was a form of emotional communication in Bumblebee's native tongue. A groan perhaps. In truth it was just an emotional hiss.

"Bumblebee, It's not like that."

"I know you just think I'm an emotionless being. That I just pretend to have these feelings." Disgusting. "Yes, I mimic some of them. But, I'm the only one left-!" Inwardly he cringed, thinking about the lowly civilian he managed to terrify. "The only one left from my team." His tone dropped to defeated. He said those words simply to clarify for himself. A long pause as he rifled through his thoughts. "They're gone and I have no one to talk to." The irony of spending so many vorns with them being incapable of speech. It wasn't talking, they understood him. Nobody on this planet understands him! He cackled in grief. "What good are emotions if nobody knows what they mean!" His spark ached so bad at the stress of these emotions. They would either have to break, or he would for sure drop into a stasis lock.

Backtracking. Was Optimus really the only thing keeping him from becoming a cold hearted killer like the Decepticons. "I'm nothing without them."

Marcus licked his lips over the hanging silence.

"It's- okay, look. We really thought we were going to loose you. You were really close there for a while. Telling her, Jenner, that she could take you back to Simmons was the only way we could get her to even look at you." He hated that he couldn't see what Bumblebee was thinking. "We have no intention of giving you away. I mean, we spent a week trying to find you topside, Riley got seriously hurt, we spent nearly two months working on you. We're not gonna just throw it all away just to make you suffer even more."

"Does Sari-"

"No." He didn't even know the question Bumblebee was about to ask. Then Marcus stated something that made him baffled beyond comprehension. "She's way too protective of you. If she found out she'd blow our cover within a day."

_Protective of me?_

"And we're getting into so much trouble the way it is. Most of Outpost Nine is on Simmons's shit list. He's not going to be happy when his little secretary won't be coming back any time soon until after we're long gone. The last thing we need is a hospital on his shit list. Especially after I ended up giving him all that energon." A pause and a glare to himself. "Stupid."

But-? "What about his weapon?"

"A joke. Simmons doesn't intend on working on it. Not for a while anyway." The reason was obviously already out in the open, no reason to bring it up again. It made Bumblebee incredibly guilty but the thought was pushed to the back for now. He couldn't. The emotion was too powerful.

He was the only thing between this worlds salvation and their doom. Guilt bubbled over at unsustainable levels.

"What," Bumblebee was forcing this thought out. The waver in his voice made it obvious, "if," he really didn't want to say it, "I," dammit! He direly had to brace himself, "turn myself in?" The car groaned again, inwardly expecting the remainder of his will to be crushed and smashed into nothing.

"No." Matter of factly, no need to even think about it. "Like you've said. You're obligation has been fulfilled. I'm not going to ask anything more from you."

After a long moment of reflection, Marcus stood and paced around the room for a few minutes. So many thoughts and problems rolling around in his head. He tried to clear his thoughts, but there were just too many of them. And every time one thought was cleared, five questions popped in to replace it. He sighed in defeat. Sitting before him were a set of what looked to be spark plugs and miscellaneous car parts lying in front of him. If he couldn't think his thoughts away, maybe he could distract them out for the time being.

Bumblebee didn't want him here. He was so inhumed with his own thoughts he didn't want to express them openly. They instead festered as he tried to ignore Marcus the best that he could. Firmly establishing that he was getting ignored, Marcus gave up his task. He managed to free up Bumblebee's tires, and the lock on the steering wheel. After that however, he decided it was best to bide his time by watching over Riley.

Riley was on the verge of death. Like Bumblebee needed any more of that.

lllll  
lllll

One hour straight at breakneck force trailing behind the great Megatron jet. The jet was returning to Mission City. Why? Bumblebee didn't know. Why Megatron took Mikaela was just as perplexing. Why Megatron was traveling at such a slow pace for Bumblebee to follow was such an answer that was so circuit racking that Bumblebee didn't dare risk such a question. They were inside the city now. Or at least what was left of the city. Before him, the screaming girl was unleashed from Megatron's grip sending her on a one way trip to the earth. They were too far away from Bumblebee to catch her and she was too close for the fall to kill her. All Bumblebee could do was scream and cringe when her delicate body cracked into the pavement. He transformed and ran to her aid. Then Megatron's force hit the earth. His presence was just enough to cause Bumblebee to slink back.

"Mikaela!!" A scream of death. Bumblebee's spark retched so badly it felt like it should have shredded his metal. It wasn't his voice that called out her name!

It was-

It couldn't be!

NO! - Please! Anything but that!!

Past Mikaela's broken body, past Megatron's terrific frame, inside of a pile of twisted metal, a make shift cage, Sam had screamed out Mikaela's name. _Megatron was keeping Sam!_ The horror was so overwhelming Bumblebee couldn't react. No reaction at all even as Megatron casually stepped to the side of Mikaela's body, giving both Sam and Bumblebee the sight of their lifetime. The weapon charged. Bumblebee snapped to his mind. Screaming at his max Bumblebee made a charge to protect Mikaela. Too late! Too slow! Energy scorched the area washing out her body. The blast stopped just short of searing Bumblebee as his body slid to scoop up Mikaela's charred remains. Her body still trembled but she had been crisped to the core. Both Sam and Bumblebee shrieked. Megatron laughed deeply and stepped back enjoying his amusement. Bumblebee cradled the black charbroiled body. Optimus's death, Jazz's death, Ratchet's, Ironhide's, Arcee's, Cliffjumper's, the list poured forward so fast Bumblebee couldn't contain the pain and rage that flooded through his systems at once. He roared and launched himself at Megatron. The magnificence of his rage was squelched by one powerful blow forcing him back. Crashing him into a pile of rubble. With barely a moment to shake off his daze, his optics looked up and widened as the sole creature who caused all this pain, all this death, all this rage was heading straight for him. His magnificent rage was now overcome by something even more powerful. _Fear_! He rolled and the mace impacted his previous location with such force it trembled the ground. Bumblebee made it to his feet long enough to gain bearings to dodge the next swipe.

Pillars behind him gave him the only cover from the lashes from the deadly weapon. They caved like sand to Megatron's force. He slipped behind them, and then avoided the crumbling rubble. His only saving grace now was that he was smaller than Megatron and the roof provided measly protection. The ball of the weapon soared over his head, crashing a threatening close into the walls behind him. Being a soldier trained him to look past his terror. Always focus on something, never fear.

Bumblebee bolted out towards the open. Sam dodged within his vile frame as the clash of the heavy weapon crashed through it. Bumblebee himself nearly avoided the impact himself. He turned, he was going to scream at Sam to run! Before Megatron could learn he even had his voice back, a sudden stillness erupted across his scanners.

Before he could focus on how he was struck, Megatron was over him. Fear cast over him, it caused him to forfeit long enough to feel-

nothing. Then everything.

Sensors danced with incoherent data. He tried to pick himself up. His arms, legs and body flailed and twisted in a hopeless search for solid ground. Just as he thought he might have found it, his legs caved to his weight and spinning balance. His body crashed down shoulder first. The scanners in his cranium twisted and flinched again. To his feet again, another spinning world ending with a burst of disrupted signals, a crash. His voice harped in disarray. He tried to level his hands on the flat surface but when he did found ground, he couldn't pinpoint the grounds location to his body. He couldn't tell what was up or what was down. His body crashed for the last time. Whining servos as he couldn't tell if he felt numbness or pain that was coursing through his head. His apertures closed completely blocking out any sensor that his mangled head couldn't manage. Before he did, he had seen through a distorted lens, the image of Magatron reaching down and plucking Sam away from the ground. _I'm sorry Sam. I am so sorry Optimus. _He gave into the dizziness. Such a strange and oddly comforting feeling. The numbness.

What felt like being in a timeless faze was abruptly ended by a sharp claw driving into the gap in his mouth plate. Megatron was dragging him to his feet. Not willing to comply but not together enough to object, he slowly dragged himself to the pressure. The only thing that was keeping his balance was the dagger in his cheek. He wasn't sure how long time passed before sensors gathered themselves enough to make out what was going on. Some of his ocular vision came back, other senses fizzled with static or simply didn't respond at all. The sense of time returned. Pain returned. His light sensing vision slowly focused, widening when the haze of glowing red focused into two menacing optics. He jerked back but still felt the fishhook in mouth. It ripped away and he crashed to his knees. In Megatron's claws Sam screamed for his friend. His human designated name rumbling past his audio sensors with barely even recognition. _Do it Megatron. You know I can't stop you._ Bumblebee slumped deeper onto his knees. Megatron's optics glinted and his teeth like daggers gleamed. Megatron was laughing. He held the boy forward. He wasn't going to crush the boy. He wanted to crush something far more satisfying.  
_  
He was so close to succeeding. _

lllll

The monitor blipped at a steady pace. Steady and stable. The monitor was also buried behind thick re-enforced cage and wires. Beyond that were miniature spark disruptors rewired to release at a pull of a fire alarm. All the electronic equipment was.

Riley slept quietly and peacefully. Sari sitting at his side, her head fixed to the floor as she closed herself off in a mild shutdown. Not sleep, but unconscious enough to quiet her mind. A wild murmur aroused her. She glanced up to see people edgy and hovering around the door. To her feet she studied their faces as they shot her bewildered looks. The closer she approached the doorway, the more obvious was the reason. And perplexing itself.

She dodged forward, whispering hoarsely. "Bumblebee!? How did you get in here?" An even more pressing matter. At least ridiculous. "How are you going to get out?!" The yellow car was cramped with barely a foot of open hall on either side of him.

"Is Riley going to be okay?" Bumblebee ignored her question. The people behind her relaxed, although more confused. Her eyes brightened. She had no idea he had been pulling through this well. A sad smile crossed her face. He was okay.

"Yeah, he'll be okay." She whispered. It was a lie for Riley however, it was too early to tell. She approached the car, laying her hands on his hood.

"I'm sorry. I should have been more careful!" An apology that garnered a suspicious look from Sari. That look made him fret, but too subtle to notice.

"You're too hard on yourself you know that?" She glanced back, catching the eyes of weary and cautious people. Her eyes beckoned a plea of silence about this. To not tell Marie of this incident. Their eyes conveyed fright, but they nodded anyways. They retreated back to their positions.

Sari turned back to the car. She kissed her fingers and pressed them at Bumblebee's hood. The car startled at that. It began ticking to itself. She missed that noise.

"What'cha thinking about Mr. Bumblebee." Sari amused. She folded her arms on his hood and rested her body. He was still very cold. The car's clicking stopped. A moment of pause.

"My knowledge to your mannerisms is somewhat limited since I no longer have access to the internet. What you did just now," another moment of pause. He rifled through his information. She had _kissed_ him. "Was a gesture of affection?"

She looked over the car in mild surprise. "Yeah." She slunk inwardly, hoping the car wasn't thinking something sick.

"Why?" It almost sounded like disgust but not in the sick minded way she was thinking in. Like he was horrified. She furrowed her eyebrow at him.

"Because I like you Bumblebee." She pulled herself away from the car, trying to be a little less 'intimate'. The car rolled back slightly on his wheels. "You're not thinking something gross are you?" She accused him.

"No." Bumblebee replied flatly. Her eyes turned pained. She swallowed realizing this moment wasn't going well.

"Does it, make you disgusted?" Her voice was quiet. The silent response caused her to cringe.

"No." The voice was quieter, still flat but the tone had defeat nestled in it. She watched him intently. Bumblebee wanted nothing more than for this conversation to end. He tried to back up but realized that without his focus, he wouldn't be able to navigate out of the tight cramped area. His bumper tapped into the wall behind him.

"Oh no! You're not stuck are you?" Sari asked in a light mocking tone, trying desperately to mask her true feelings. Her face smiled but a second later betrayed her disguise. He didn't seem to want to talk about it, she wasn't going to force the matter. "I told you, you were going to get stuck!" She forced her smile again. The car was silent. He wasn't going to play face. She sighed no point trying to hide it. Her shoulders shifted in defeat and her smile vanished. She disengaged eye contact with the car.

"You'll keep me informed on Riley's progress?" Bumblebee asked moments later. She nodded.

"Bee, you better get out of here before you get in trouble." She inhaled and her eyes caught him. It was almost like he nodded at her.

Carefully, the car rolled backwards in minute precision. He didn't rumble his engine, he was doing the movements under his own will. She then remembered that she still had his keys in safe keeping. A glance back to Riley and the others then she followed to guide the car back down the hallway. He didn't need it. It was unfathomable watching the car twist up on two wheels and slip through a doorway. He did struggle, but it was mind boggling that he could even manage this.

lllll

She followed him back to the corner where he would be resting at. He wheeled back into place and his doors unlocked to give her access. Although the action didn't improve her deep embedded hurt. How long was Bumblebee conscious? Did he talk to Marcus? She visited him daily and he never afforded her any communication. She slipped into the seat. The doors were always unlocked for her and she continued to bring him a flower a day. Beside her was a mound of vegetation. Most had been there long enough to have completely wilted but the rest filled the compartment with fragrance. She had a flower for him today as well. This time she nestled it on his dashboard. He groaned and shifted, the door swung open and she could feel a shift in the seat edging her out.

He then transformed. Slowly. Metal strands wrapped around weakly. The larger pieces shifted and ground across each other. He struggled, and she could only stand back and watch helplessly. The horror of watching him in pain melted into intrigue when she saw his head form from the chaos. So strange, his human like head from so many different pieces. Like a puzzle trying to put pieces together of what it's like to be human like.

"Why do you keep giving me these things?" He was irritated. He transformed out of the Camaro mode and to Sari's surprise, his hand somehow held the flowers. Bumblebee disregarded the decapitated plant life. They scattered across the concrete and sand below.

"They're to remind you, Mr. Bumblebee that the flowers are out there." Almost too curtsy for the tone he used on her.

"I know that there are flowers out there, I don't see why you keep giving them to me." Bee scolded. A twinge of defeat rolled over her but could do nothing against her wall of defiance.

"Because they're pretty. You should be a Volkswagen beetle so I have a place on your dashboard to put them." Her words were teasing, but her tone suggested otherwise. Human music at it's finest.

"It's impractical to turn into a Volkswagen just so you have a place to put flowers. I don't even want them. _Why_ do you keep giving them to me?"

"Because they're pretty." As if he didn't get it the first time. "And because you need to be reminded that in all the things that are bad out there, there is still beauty. They is still hope." Sari picked up a flower and returned it to Bumblebee's fingers.

"Hope?" Bumblebee growled at the word. Though as soon as the word left his vocal processor a sad look crossed over his face. _'I see that hope whenever I look at my team. In return, it gives me strength'. _His optics looked inwards. After everything, he couldn't see it anymore. Sari looked up at him, trying to see into his soul through his optics. His optics tore away from her gaze. "There is no hope!" Bumblebee replied weakly.

"How can you say that?!"

Inside him was the urge to scream, but he narrowly suppressed it. His ill placed trust in hope ended up dragging the humans into the fight over the All Spark. Then his ill placed trust, he had humans locking him up and screaming at him that he was an emotionless machine. In his ill placed trust, he became just that. He looked down at the flower. It had already started to wilt from being without water for so long. Yet the stem and leaves still held their forest green, and the red pedals barely had a twinge of brown on the edges. "Imagine an entire world full of flowers, Sari." Heat flooded to his digits. The flower twisted as if the heat drew it into agony. The stem browned, the leaves shriveled and the pedals wilted and blackened. It's beauty was gone leaving a shriveled up looking weed. "Thousands of years of war and hell that burnt the entire planet to a shell of emptiness. And as if that wasn't enough, a new world, a new set of flowers. Just as pretty, but even more frail." The blackened stem slipped out of his fingers. "That is how I can say that." Hot steam vented out of his systems. Optics set dead center on Sari's being. "My own scans indicate that Riley isn't functioning well. I don't have hopes that he'll make it."

His words struck hard, but her defiance and optimism are an even stronger wall.

"It's not over yet. Don't underestimate the resilience of a human being, Bumblebee. It's not over until it's over."

_Whoot. Okay another chapter finished. It took a while because I had to be absolutely happy with it before posting it. Things tend to sit kind of funny when the parts are written a long time ago, and they need to be rehashed to get the sequence and the mood right. I am content._


	10. Chapter 10

Mm kay, I see your Impossible and raise you Worst Case. Technically, I finished at 11:59! IT STILL COUNTS!

* * *

Marcus's hands were pursed together as he sat in the uncomfortable chair. He was on edge as usual. Some time had passed since he retreated from Riley's room to give allowance to Sari. He needed to give her time. He hoped that she would eventually come around, though the way things seemed to be going now days. He was really starting to doubt it. Gilbrick's men were supposedly going to help him with his upcoming endeavor but Marcus was doubting that too. They were too terrified of Bumblebee. They had the same sentiment that the people inside City did. That Bumble was somehow trying to get past the city defenses or to kill Simmons. Which the latter was an absolute joke.

He had nearly two months to think of what a joke it was. But the past hour had a horrifyingly new set of thoughts in his mind. Everyone was terrified for Simmons's life. Everyone was convinced that the robot had his sights set on the man. And in a way, he had, but not like they surmised. Not the way everyone tripped over each other in telling exaggerated stories that had yet to show the slightest truth. Bumblebee openly confessed to Marcus that he _would_ kill Simmons.

Marcus gawked at the thought. Of course he did. After getting tortured, tormented and brutalized, Marcus couldn't blame him. The funniest thing about the joke was, Bumblebee didn't have the slightest inclination to go after him. Simmons on the other hand-

Marcus's palm drove into the side of his cranium. He had enough of these thoughts. He left the chair. Enough time passed, maybe Sari left by now.

Marcus paused in the hallway outside of Riley's room. He consciously did it to listen for Sari's voice but deep down, he had to do a mental preparation. Marcus exhaled. Hidden within his thoughts and consciousness, there was something deeper. Riley was just a kid. Before the robots he was just the kid brother to his best friend. A kid brother whom they used to send off on wild goose chases and everything else under the sun in attempt to get rid of the kid brother. Just so they could get the fleeting time to hang out without the pest. Riley was so desperate to hang out with the big boys back then, and now, he wasn't supposed to go anywhere without them. it was a requirement. How things change with just a few giant robots.

Then Marcus lost his best friend. It was brutal and cold. The only salvaging thing was that Ryan briefly snapped to his senses. Just enough to request that Marcus take care of his kid brother. Marc's eyes blurred and tore his mind away from his thoughts. Before he was able to tuck them back to the recesses of his mind but not now, not since new images of Riley lying in a dead in a pool of his own blood burned into his mind.

Marcus drew out a heavy breath. He looked up at the door, then frowned. He turned around and stared at the direction where Bumblebee was kept. He wasn't sure, but all those things that were bothering him about Bumblebee were starting to piece together into a conclusion as to why. Marcus stood there in troubled silence. That is until he was caught off guard by a hiss of voices that were frantically screaming at each other somewhere down the hall.

Something was afoot. Marcus furrowed his brow while trying to listen to them. They were too far away to be heard clearly. He hurried down the hall to follow which direction the voices were coming from. He choked back his breathing to listen better, but his own footfalls were heavy and distracting. Then he heard a door snap shut ahead. Approaching the door he could make out voices. One of them was Marie's. Sliding up to it he pressed his ear up to listen. It was soon apparent what their concern was.

"We have to do something! We can't- Just- That gawdamn robot was up here!" A breathless wave of forced air escaped one man's lungs.

"Up in the fuking hospital!" Another man repeated, he too was too frantic to formulate his words intelligently.

Marie hissed out a string of cusses.

"What the hell do we do!?"

"Isn't it obvious! We have to call Simmons!" Marie's voice cracked. "I need a radio! Now!"

Panic now filled Marcus's breath. He slipped away from the wall and struggled to check another door. To his relief it opened. He slid inside just enough time to hide from the men and woman who threw themselves out of the adjacent room. They ran down the hallway in search of a radio. Marcus quickly pulled himself out of the room, checked to make sure the coast was clear and headed full blast towards the basement. Damnit! He shouldn't have undone Bumblebee's restraints! He should have kept him locked up! How the hell did the robot manage to get through the damn doors anyway? The wide halls gave a clue, but he didn't pause a chance to care.

* * *

"Yes. Resilience." Bumblebee hummed dryly as he settled down onto his hunches. His optics dimmed to near darkness and zealous aggression seemed to pull the oxygen right out of the air. It was _resilience _that kept Sam's heart beating after two years of perpetual hell. Through his broken body, his bones broken many times over; through Megatron's control over Bumblebee's pathetic attempts to keep Sam nourished enough for his body to be at functional levels, which it wasn't, his body struggled to stave off the viruses and bacteria and infections. Yet Sam continued to survive! Just to suffer! All Bumblebee did was to help perpetuate the torture. He was assigned to one task! To to keep the boy from harm. To protect him! He couldn't even do that! In fact, all he did was make it worse! To make Sam suffer in this perpetual hell! The flash of memories made his voice burn. "You're resilience is nothing! It is over Sari! We are nothing more than rodents scurrying around the holes and crevices of Megatron's empire." His optics glassed over. He snorted. In a calmer but lower mood he reflected. "It would be best if Riley just slipped away. Just so he wouldn't have to endure any more of this torture!" His voice was like acid.

Acid that finally burnt through Sari's defiant wall. So corrosive his words that she turned enraged instantly. She looked at the robot in shock. "You take that back." Sari seethed.

"Take it back? And how do you propose I take it back!?" His anger shot back. He rose back to his feet, as his voice rose as well. "What is there to take back! It's all true!"

"How dare you say that!"

"How dare I? How dare you!" Bumblebee edged his face into hers. "How dare _you_ for coming after me Sari! How dare you risk your lives! For what? A robot?" Bumblebee yelled at her with intense anger throwing his arms open to force her to look at him as a whole. Sari hissed back in counter argument but Bumblebee was quick to speak over her. Even if it was in volume and intense hatred only.

"Robots who are annihilating your kind." A great digit pointed at her. "Doesn't that make you a traitor? A traitor against your own people!?"

She gasped. Sari's eyes floated in angry pools of liquid. Her mouth gaped open trying to find words, but his question made it hard to find any.

He continued. "Don't. You. Get it? I am done with you people! Your kind is on your own! I want nothing more to do with you!"

Her rage compounded, her defiance reformulated and swirled into anger, washing hope to the side. How dare he say that! Out of everything she risked for him. He was ungrateful and he was blaming her! Her teeth clenched. She stormed a foot forward.

The robot vented and shifted to becoming more foreboding. He wasn't going to have any of it from her. He smashed his fists into the concrete at her feet, sharp enough to crack it.

"Now. Leave! Me. Alone!" He roared.

She stiffened. Shock, surprise. This wasn't the robot she first met!

He knew it too. He didn't need to hide a pained expression of truth on his face. He didn't need to hide his truest feelings behind a mask. He had no emotions to betray. All it was, was anger, hatred. Sari saw that hatred. Bumblebee wasn't the creature she had met before. Just another one of them. Another Decepticon.

"Fine, if that's how you want it!" She growled and stepped away. She did a quick glare to gauge the robot behind her. She then bolted, reaching the exit and throwing open the double doors. They crashed into the walls with a loud crack, and then a lesser thud as they closed again.

Inside the air of anger quickly dwindled. Bumblebee stared at the now empty room. She wasn't coming back. Not this time. He threw himself backwards off of his hunches and landed against the wall. His legs degenerated below him, crumpling out into the dirt. His shredded wheel smashed into the wall with his force and his voice warbled out in sharp pain. Lurching forward he reached for his wound. Now the anger bubbled away leaving a solemn reminder of hatred. So much hatred for himself and even a small bit for Sari. She wasn't supposed to come after him! She was supposed to be kept safe, with her own kind! He hated her for being reckless for him. And now because of him Riley lay there. His weak heart barely drumming away. The same weak beats that Sam had. And all that time, Bumblebee did nothing. His head dropped into his hands. For two years all he did was watched Megatron ravaged their world, and he did nothing! For two years he could only watch as Megatron ravaged Sam's health and Bumblebee- did nothing.

Maybe there was some way to salvage something. He knew why he was here. He knew it was only a matter of time before Simmons came and collect him. Bumblebee had to stop running. He wasn't a fighter, he wasn't a savior. He was just worthless. Though he wasn't keen on the idea of Simmons being a better savior, the people had their trust in him. Maybe, just maybe there was some validation.

Gears gnashed and heat poured out of his body. His spark struggled with the exertion and his mind swirled with dizziness. His head thunk back onto the metal wall. He didn't have the strength to run any longer. He'd let Simmons have him. He extended the yellow metal over his optics to block out his vision. He couldn't see hope anymore, and he was tired of looking at a dead world.

The light bled in from behind the obstructions. His apertures closed down. His voice soft and weak. "I should have seen it before. You were right, Sari. When we first met you said it would be best to never see each other again. You were right." A moment for his head to stoop farther. "I am such a fool."

* * *

The hall rumbled a loud crack that caused Marcus to pause in step. He waited a moment to see the result. Sari's thin frame then entered the intersection in the hallway. She caught one rage filled glance at Marcus and swiftly turned on her heel down the other way.

"Sari!" Marcus called for her attention. Her body tensed, she then burst into a run. He took off after her. Her voice escaped her in a form of a growl as she pushed the door open. Past the door, her pace stopped short at her error. She was now in a dead end in an old hospital locker room.

"Sari, wait! I need to talk to you!" Marcus barged in after her before she could think to lock herself in. She turned to face him. Her eyes were strained and red. They had been like that for a long time now, yet for the moment, it caught Marcus off guard.

"I have nothing to say to you!" She hissed and rushed by him trying to reach the door. He stepped back and slammed his heel into it, then forced his weight to keep the door shut.

"No, but I have something to say to you." Sari gave him a distrustful glance. Marcus exhaled. "You have to get Bumble out of here!"

"Let him rot."

"What?"Marcus's face twisted up in horrified shock. "Sari! Simmons is coming! Bumblebee can't be here!" Sari bit her lip and glared away. His breath escaped him. She didn't care? "Sari what happened?"

"Nothing!"

Marcus shifted back and crossed his arms. He'd have to glare it out of her like usual. Though with the fret on his face he didn't feel like he could pull it off. It didn't matter, it was the usual method. Sari shrieked.

"He doesn't want our help Marcus! So why should we bother risking any more for him!"

He looked at her for a moment. Still shocked at her sudden change. He could only surmise what had happened. And then a horrified look crossed over him that he could not control. His conclusion was more obvious than it should be. It really was like Ryan all over again.

"Because it's not a matter of want, it's need!" Marcus grabbed her shoulders. "You've been right the entire time, you can't give up on him now!"

Sari's head shook slightly as she tried to jog her mind clear. "You should have heard what he was saying!"

"Sari look-"

"Marcus he doesn't care about us!"

"That's not true." She refused to look at him. Marcus humorlessly huffed out a laugh. "You really think that after everything? Sari are you listening to yourself?! You sound like me for christ sakes!" She glanced up at Marcus. He shifted uncomfortably. "You really think he would have turned himself in if there wasn't a gun pointed to your head, or force himself to keep driving after going through a spark disrupter if Riley's life wasn't in danger. He's pushing us away because he does care. He's just, upset."

"Marcus-"

"No, listen. you know this better than anyone else does. Look, you remember, the way that Ryan tried to push us away? It's the same thing-" Marcus pulled out his train of thought. It was towards a conversation he didn't want to get into. "Look. Bumblebee-" He let one hand go off of Sari's shoulder and brought it up to his face. His mind desperately tried to find a new topic. After a moment he huffed and then chuckled to himself. Sari huffed out in disbelief and stepped back. Marcus clarified. "No it's uh, what's her face. Marie. Miss Ole, I know everything about robots." He mocked. "You know what she said, bout'a week ago? She said that robots couldn't function with out an objective." Marcus chuckled louder. One that surmised that he was going mad. Sari had no idea where Marcus was going with this. The laughter drifted.. "No, she's so right. That stupid bitch is right. Unbelievable. But it makes sense now. Bumblebee, he was making up his own objectives."

Sari skeptically looked at Marcus. "What are you-?"

"No really, hear me out. So Bumblebee's obligation to get us any energon, right. He was so damn hard pressed to get it for us. But, think about it. He had no obligation. He only did it because that guy Captain black mailed him into it by threatening you. Saving _you _was his objective. Getting energon, was his objective." Marcus's enthusiasm died down abruptly. "I think that's all he has to live for. He's grasping at threads and he knows it. And I think that's why he was getting into situations where he got the shit kicked outta him!" Marcus's voice dropped farther, mirroring the pain hidden in deep in his eyes. "When he helped us get that energon, I don't think he was expecting to make it out of there alive. That's why he didn't take it." He cursed under his breath. "He didn't expect the people from Nine to help him out. My god it's just like watching Ryan all over again."

Sari looked at him with baffled eyes. Her mind wrapped around her own conclusions. "He _lost_ hope." She muttered solemnly. Her eyes widened at the realization. There was a still air of dread in the air. "He said those things because he knows Simmons is coming after him! Marcus we have to-" She rushed to the door and lunged for the handle. Marcus caught her other arm. He then sighed.

"Sari." He lingered for a moment. "I know I screwed up." He trailed. He then forced himself to continue. "I know that most of this is my fault. Sari, Bee told me-" A struggle with words. Sari looked hurt for a moment.

"When did he talk to you?"

Marcus shook his head. Then sighed. "That's not important. The thing is, you have ta help Bumble. After everything I've done to him, Sari, you're the only one he trusts."

"Apparently not enough to talk to me!"

"Listen-"

"This entire time, he never talked to me, or let me know that he was even okay!"

"Probably because he was handing out death threats! I'm not sure how much you want to constitute that as talk."

Sari gave Marcus a horrified look.

"Yeah, that's how bad we've pushed him. I mean, Simmons, Captain. Me. That's why you have to be the one to get him out of here. You're the only one who can pull him back. I'll stay behind, somebody has to watch over Riley. But yeah, you need to get moving!" Marcus nodded to the door.

Racing back into the room they found Bumblebee still at the wall. Head buried into his hand, his elbow propped up on one knee while the other leg was weakly sprawled out before him. Defeat was etched into every inch of metal.

"Mr. Bumblebee?" Sari questioned quietly while Marcus quietly closed the door.

He looked up at them with a surprised hiss. He tried to pick himself up right hen and there, but his bad leg gave out on him. The sound of metal crumpling followed. Then his voice.

"Sari, how many times-!?"

"Hey, don't be like that okay?" Sari reprimanded softly while approaching him.

Primus, this girl just doesn't get it! "Please, just go."

"We can't. Simmons is coming!" Marcus responded with urgency. Bumblebee blinked and looked at Marcus. Bumblebee then settled back into the wall.

"As to be expected. It is the only logical conclusion left to salvage." Bumblebee spoke dryly and tried to be without emotion. The two humans approached. Bumblebee then looked back at Marcus. "What continues to confuse me, is that you told me you have no intention of forcing me into Simmon's control. But it would seem that it is your every right to destroy me. After all, all of this is my fault."

Sari shot a glance at Marcus. He glanced a confused look back. Her eyes narrowed, before she could say anything in reply he continued.

"Another thing that confuses me is you're persistence to come after me!" Bumblebee was heated at the end of that sentence. "Why? I am nothing but a disgrace to my cause. There is no justification for you to risk-"

"Come on Bumble, this isn't time for a self pity party." Marcus interrupted.

Bumblebee ignored him. Venting he continued. "I just let Sam suffer. Perhaps just so I could prolong my disillusions that one day everything would be okay again? To sit idly as the world deteriorated around me? Some warrior I turned out to be."

"Thought you were a civilian." Marcus remarked.

Bumblebee vented sharply. "I haven't been a civilian in so long, I don't even remember what it's like!"

"Alright, okay. I believe that. I bet you probably fought harder and longer than any of us could'of thought to imagine." Marcus glanced at the doors. Paranoia that Simmons might burst through at any moment was high. Speaking of. "So you shouldn't have to sacrifice yourself against your will like this. I mean, look at what it's doing to you! We didn't go after you and risk everything just to turn you over to Simmons! Whatever happens to Riley, if you do sit here and wait for Simmons to take you, it goes against everything he worked for!

"And what of the other people who worked so hard to capture me? Their sacrifice means nothing? Face it Marcus, I am nothing but a disease on your planet. If I can be of some use to discover a cure, then despite my protests, I must give myself to the greater cause!" Bumblebee shifted into the wall farther. Trying to make himself physically more comfortable for the uncomfortable thought in the for front.

Sari was right. Emotions do drip off this guy.

"Bumblebee, please!" Sari whimpered loudly. The robot winced, and closed out his apertures. "Please Bee, I can't stand to see you hurt yourself like this!" She reached over, and touched his arm guard. He flinched though he could barely even feel her. It still surprised him and his optic sparked dimly to see her. _Her face_. Lubricant was dripping out of her eyes. Tears. The tell tale sign in a human being hurt. He promised he'd never hurt her! He twisted away from the wall. He also twisted his sights away from her.

"Sari, I'm sorry."

"Come on Bumblebee?" Marcus braced his arms onto his hips. He sighed an impatient sigh.

"I don't understand! I don't understand any of this. Why do you care? Marcus. I threatened to kill you."

"Yep." Marcus remarked. "But if you were anybody else, I wouldn't have been threatened, I'd be dead. I put you through a lot of shit Bee. As is, you're the most noble pain in the ass I ever had the privilege to meet." Marcus then turned his head and mumbled. "No wonder I hated you so gawdamn bad." His voice then cleared. "Now If you don't mind, I think we'd like to keep it that way. Now, I know you can do a lot better than Simmons." Marcus looked back at Bumblebee. He could see that the robot was now contemplating. Without waiting for a decision, Marcus threw one out. "Go with Sari."

"But-" Bumblebee warbled.

"I'm going to stay here to watch over Riley." Marcus answered, but it wasn't Bumblebee's protest.

Sari wiped away the blurry substance from her eyes. "Come on Bee."

The robot vented. Sari pulled his hand towards the double doors. Of all his great strength, he allowed her to direct it.

"Come on Bee. Really don't need Simmons to walk in on this!" Marcus informed him.

The robot shook his head. The sky blue optic twirled with confusion.

"Come on!"

"Go!" Marcus yelled.

The robot heaved. "No."

"I won't take no for an answer." Sari gripped at his armor sliding her fingers deep within the crevices of his armor and raked her fingernails into the ridges.

"Sari!"

"Damnit Bumblebee! I am not going to let yourself be turned into bullets! Now come on!"

"Bumble just do what she says." The robot gave Marcus an angry glare. "Come on. Don't do this to us."

A strong vent of air, Bumblebee's head twisted feeling the pressure of being pinned between two unsavory decisions.

"Come on!" Sari growled. However one of them, didn't require him to be tortured. Reluctantly, Bumblebee allowed Sari to lead him to the door.

Bumblebee whirred in shame. He glanced back to the room.

"Go!" Marcus growled. Reluctantly, he obeyed.

With a soft vent Bumblebee followed Sari through the double doors. Forced to drop to his hands and knees he crawled through the passage. Ahead of him Sari's confidence return to levels they had been at before Bumblebee made the distasteful comment. Sari quickly navigated them through the wide hallways. She eventually brought them to a blocked off hallway that once lead to the emergency entrance. Though the doors were nailed shut they were protected from entry by the spark disruptor traps. Bumblebee drew his head up in alarm

"Crap." Sari seethed. She glanced back at the robot who was reeling away. "It's okay Bee, I got this." Sari reached up and pulled off the case of the box exposing the wires and contents inside. Bumblebee mumbled his protest and shook his head. She pulled her backpack off her shoulders and in front of her. Digging through she clamped the screwdriver in between her teeth and continued to look for her wire cutter. Bumblebee glanced over at the wall to his side. He didn't dare go through that way so he pounded at the wall to determine how thick it was. Not very. He then threw his body through the wall and collapsed on the other side.

"Bee!" Sari whisper yelled. Discontinuing her search for her tools and dropping her found tools back into the bag she rushed to the rubble. Bumblebee was dazed on the other side. "We can't be making noise! We're gonna get caught!" She stepped through the hole and to his side. Bumblebee shook off the discombobulation and slowly made his way to his feet. Sari frantically looked about to make sure no alarms had been raised. She then hissed for him to follow her. They hovered to the side of the hospital looking for the best exit away from the area. They stopped short when a rumbling noise of a vehicle approached their location. Strafing the wall both fell silent. The doors popped open and voices carried out from within the vehicle. Behind that vehicle another two rolled up. Sari pulled back and whispered for Bumblebee to follow her. This way was obviously not going to work. As she drifted away, Bumblebee surveyed the people just on the other side of the corner. Then a very distinct voice froze his spark.

"When we approach I want you to use extreme caution!" Simmons voice perked through the atmosphere. "He's a full fledged robot right now so consider him armed and extremely dangerous. However, I _need_ him alive!"

Heavy objects were pulled out of the trucks. Bumblebee dared a cautious look over the corner to see what was all there. He didn't see Simmons. Most of the people were soldiers he saw before. The one with the Southern accent that had addressed him before then spoke.

"What get's me is why the hell didn't we grab him while he was still stuck as a car." His tone indicated he wasn't thrilled and that Simmons was out of immediate earshot.

"I don't know, he said there was some issues with sneaking a live robot into his lab."

"I know what he said. Something about this just doesn't feel right."

"I hear ya." A deep throated voice replied. His dark skin glistened as he picked up his weapon and slung it over his shoulder.

"Bee!" Sari hoarsely whispered from behind him. Bumblebee dodged a glance back at her. She frantically waved for him to follow her. His optic drifted to nowhere in particular. He still felt he shouldn't be running. He should just turn himself in and get this over with! He looked back to trucks. The soldiers were all armed to the teeth with weapons. Ones that he knew could seriously hurt and kill him. He watched as one of the men reached into the truck bed. He then pulled out a set of shiny chains. They clicked as they were dragged across the aluminum truck side and were then haphazardly dropped to the ground. Bumblebee's optics widened. Chains that were made from his fellow Cybertronian's bodies. A drill penetrated their shells and dove into their cores to reach the soft, fragile contents near their spark. That precious metal was then stripped from their bodies leaving them crippled and shrieking in pain. There was no fight or say against such treatment. Strapped to their sides were the shock prods that could put him unconscious at one touch. Bumblebee's mind wrapped around the experience he had and the experience he has yet to have. Though he could only imagine, his experience was vivid enough that his spark protested his entire being.

"Hurry up!" His voice snapped at Bumblebee's thoughts. Simmons voice. The man who went to great lengths to hound him, to hunt him, for the satisfaction of tearing him apart. A man who would sacrifice all of mankind just to get a satisfying scream from Bumblebee. Bumblebee stepped back. He desperately tried to choke his panic back. A touch rippled a wave of fear and shock through his body. He stiffed a surprised yelp. To his side, Sari stood with concern on her face and her hands wrapped around his arm. He vented with a mix of a quiet whimper as he looked her over. She wanted him safe far, far away from those who would hurt him. She wanted to protect him. Bumblebee forced his optics shut. In the past many said that they wished they had his courage. He didn't have courage. He didn't have the courage to face Simmons. Not the courage to discover the finishing effects of the machine, or how refined their abilities were to hack into his body and tear everything out of his control.

He was going to run like a coward.

He his optics shot open at the chime of the chains gliding over each other as they moved across the ground. He looked over Sari. Her worried expression gave her an innocence he could only vaguely recollect. He nodded. His sensors were buzzing with danger even though Simmons's men were wholly oblivious that he was right there.

He lifted himself away from the wall and hurriedly but quietly trotted back with Sari.

He had no courage.

* * *

Marcus had paced around in uncontrollable fret. He knew they were here, he could hear their commands being yelled from down the halls. It was just best to avoid them all. Looking for a quiet unoccupied room he made the biggest egregious error of all. He stepped into the old lobby and saw Simmons down at the other end. He slid to the wall in pathetic hiding. He was oddly successful but that was because Simmons and Marie were engaged in a scream fest, too occupied to notice him.

Marcus overheard Marie's side first.

"You're the one with the facility and all of the equipment! What was I supposed to do?"

"You said you could handle it!"

"How was I supposed to handle it? You were supposed to have this cleared up a month ago!"

"Yeah well, it didn't go so well. I can't just trot a robot into the middle of the city."

Marie scoffed. "You have to at some point." She scolded him.

"Yes I do. _And you! _Were supposed to keep him in a weakened state so I could! Besides that! I still have Rainman to deal with!"

Marcus's attention drifted away from Marie and Simmons when the hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up. There were people behind him. For how long he didn't know.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." One of the men perked his attention. He had his hand raised to signal the others to do the same. Marcus turned wide eyed when he realized he had been caught. The man with the southern accent didn't seem interested in Marcus however.

"What's he saying about Rainman?"

The argument between Simmons and Marie ended however, leaving his question unanswered.

"Spike!" Simmons greeted in an impatient tongue. His eyes then steeled over when he saw Marcus standing there. "What is this? You were supposed to secure the area and wait for my signal!" Going against protocol suggested something was direly wrong. "Where is the NBE?!" Before the man could even say, Simmons glared at Marcus and came to his own conclusions. His eyes bulged when he looked back at Spike. "Are you telling me he wasn't down there!?" The soldiers stiffened. Before he got the obvious answer Simmons directed his question to Marcus. "Where is he Marcus!"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Marcus replied coldly.

"Why you back stabbing, double crossing-"

"Yeah? Sucks when you realize you can't count on somebody to do what their supposed to do, huh." Marcus sneered. "Ever get that weapon up and running? I mean, it's not like you don't have all that energon lying around!"

"I should've arrested you and thrown away the key. I will _not_ make that mistake again! Spike!"

"Yes sir?

"I want you to arrest this man!" The Southern spoken man glanced at Marcus then glared at Simmons. "Sir, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

"Talk? Talk later."

"No. We talk now. I want to know why you haven't gotten us back in contact with Rainman."

"Wha?" Simmons balked. Snorting aggressive and dismissive air out of his body he twisted in irritation. "Look. He's really hard to get a hold of. Okay, radios just don't work so well trying to contact him!" Simmons growled.

"Yeah, if you want my opinion, I'd say your avoiding the man." A deep grotty throat-ed man stepped up. He towered over Simmons.

"I didn't ask for your opinion!" Simmons snapped while Spike gently pushed his friend back.

"No, your right. This isn't the time." Spike acknowledged. Quickly in a restrained manner, flipped his hands out rapidly in front of him in a quiet communication. The large man stepped back and narrowed his eyes at Simmons. "Right now, we have a robot to catch." He then turned to face Simmons and Marcus. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and grabbed Marcus's wrist drawing it back behind him.

"Wait! I can't leave here!" Marcus protested but the cuffs were clipped anyway.

"Why's that?"

"I have a hurt friend here! I have to make sure nothing happens to him." Marcus twisted to face him. He then lowered his voice to try and contain it between the two of them. "Please! I don't trust him!"

Simmons scoffed.

"Who? Simmons?" But Marcus was too busy glaring at Simmons to reply. Simmons exchanged the glare, though his wasn't of distrust but rather deep festering rage.

"Spike?" Muttered incredulously.

"Yeah, yeah I got it." Spike addressed back seemingly caught up in their own half indited conversation. "Simmons!" Spike then addressed Simmons. "You got your lab set up?"

"Of course!"

"Are you sure?"

"Why?"

"Well as I figure, robot couldn't have gotten far. He's weak. He shouldn't be any trouble, but you know as well as I do that we can't just bring him back here. We need your lab ready."

The beady, black eyes shifted in thought than back again. "And you'll have him."

"Absolutely."

"Soon."

"You have my word." He then pursed his lip and then shifted forward under rising defiance. "Under one condition." His words made the black eyes twitched. "You find! Rainman."

Simmons nodded. "No problem."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah." Simmons nodded again and turned to leave. "Not a problem."

Once he was out of the room followed by Marie, his larger friend turned to Spike.

"He was supposed to find him two months ago."

"Yeah well, he's hard to find by radio." Spike replied in a snarky tone. He then turned to face his team. "Okay listen up. I want five of you to stay here. I want this place secured and locked down. The rest of you, start patrolling the streets. This is mostly human territory here so a giant robot will be big news. Try to find him alive! And, don't ever let your guard down. Those Decepticons can come out of no where so be careful. Lastly and most importantly. All your findings, you report back to me! Simmons doesn't hear a word of this! Got me?"

"Yes sir!" The crowd roared in unison.

"Where you going?"

"I'm going to take this man for questioning, and then, I'm gonna go find Rainman."

* * *

Rounding the corner Gilbrick startled when he seen two men come down the hall. He only took a glance, but one was dressed up in military garb. All the info he needed. He quickly turned and bumbled with the door to quickly find a quick exit.

"Hold it!" Spike called out to him. Gilbrick froze. He chuckled sheepishly with an underlining tendril of fear wrapped in his voice.

"I was just, on my way to um, get some supplies." The scientists didn't dare look at them in the eye. Spike watched him for a moment before nodding.

"Carry on." He continued to walk down the hall with Marcus in tow. As they walked near Gilbrick, the man's eyes shot up in surprise as he recognized the second man.

"Marcus!?" He was shocked to see his hands clamped behind his back. "What's going on?"

"Isn't it obvious. I'm being arrested."

"Arrested? Are, are you arresting me too?"

"Am I supposed to?"

"No, I just. Oh Marcus I'm so terribly sorry!"

Marcus dismissively shook his head. Spike then pushed him forward down the hall. He cast a suspicious glance to Gilbrick.

"Wait! Can I talk to him? Just for a minute?" Marcus pleaded. Spike then gave an incredulous eye to Marcus. "If he's staying in the hospital, I just want to ask him for a favor. Please!"

"Make it quick."

"Right. Gilbrick, hey can you do me a favor."

"Of course. I'm not sure what I can be of help though."

"Maybe you can tell me why I'd be such an idiot for getting arrested over a robot." Marcus tried to make a joke. It was abhorrently lost on Gilbrick.

"I'm not sure I have an answer to that."

"No, it was a joke. Look. I need you to watch over Riley for me."

"Oh!" Gilbrick perked. That was something he could actually do. "Yeah. That, shouldn't be a problem."

Marcus nodded sullenly. "Thanks." With shifty eye contact to Spike, they slowly made their way down the hall again. Gilbrick drifted off in thought for a moment.

"Actually Marcus." The two men stopped and glanced back at the scientist who was now approaching them. "I do think I understand your predicament. You see, I met one that wasn't like the others." He paused to look Marcus over before continuing. "He was, well, not in the best state of mind. Being in the condition he was in. He had been deactivated and we forced reactivation. It was, most certainly not a very wholesome sight. Even so, he had a good sense of fairness about him. It troubles me deeply- the things that we put him through. I, actually. That's the reason why I couldn't do it anymore. That is truly why I quit and came here. We did terrible, terrible things to him, Marcus." He muttered glumly. "I fully understand. If this one's the same way, I fully understand why you did what you did."

"Did what he did?" Spike scoffed while looking over Marcus. "We're not going to kill him, just capture him!"

"For Simmons." Gilbrick guessed. "Yes, well, therein lies your problem. Simmons, does not treat them well. It's understandable from the point of view of what they've done to us. However, I learned that not all are like the -Decepticons as they call themselves. You see, the robot I worked with, despite his horror of being brought back seemingly from the dead, he was actually quite willing to assist us. But you could see it, in his ocular, light sensing apparatus- it's actually very interesting how they can display the same emotions we do."

"Doc. Point?" Man this guy suffered from ADHD.

"Right, as I was saying. Although I must say, I would strongly disagree with those who say they are incapable of emotions. But yes, as I see you're tight for time, getting back to my point, he, well. You could see that it was difficult for him to help us develop weapons which were inevitably used against his own kind. He was however, worried that if he didn't, we would go extinct. So despite our misgivings he continued to help us. That is until SImmons took over the project. It only grew worse when the proto metal extracting machine was created. He simply couldn't take it anymore. The horrible screams. They were enough to keep you awake at night. They did me. At that point, I could only do what I felt was the humane thing to do. I disconnected him."

Marcus raised an eyebrow at the strange confession. Gilbrick shifted uneasily. It was as if this was something that had been on his chest for a while now, and used the most inopportune time to express it.

Marcus then reeled back quietly and sunk into a sullen thought. "I got a question doc?"

"Yes?"

"Was that the one who was their medic?"

"Yes. I believe he was. Not to all of-"

"Named Ratchet."

Gilbrick's expression went to shock. He stared at Marcus for a long moment in time. He uncomfortably shifted and back peddled as he saw Spike watch him intently. "Well, I probably said more than I should have. I really should get back to work." He shuttered and then quickly disappeared down the hall.

"You still wanna take orders from that man?"

"Move it."

* * *

"This way!" Sari slipped to another shadow of another building. The sky was too bright to allow for many. Bumblebee followed. Human voices rose from the area though neither being could pick up their point of origin. Bumblebee tapped at his head to try and knock his sensors back to some function, but it was obvious nothing was coming back in working order. Sari braved ahead. Seeing that the coast was clear she walked to the large doors of a large building. She tested the large lock but knew it was beyond her ability to break or to bypass it. She looked back momentarily to wonder if she should have Bumblebee do it, but the movement of another human caught her eye. Although she didn't have to worry as near as much about getting caught as Bumblebee, she nevertheless instinctively reached for her weapon. Looking around and regarding all of her options she retreated back to Bumblebee.

"Dammit! News spreads too damn quickly! Okay this is what we're going to have to do. We're going to have to get into the smaller tunnels below." She quickly surveyed the area. "That's the last place they'd expect to find you." The robot did not do or say anything to respond. "Unfortunately, the only entrance I know of, is back at the hospital."

Bumblebee still didn't give any input. It was all going to be up to her. So she did what anybody would in her predicament of not knowing what to do next. She just picked a direction.

As they ran a voice rang out in emergency from somewhere nearby. "I got a signal!" Sari seized. She looked back at Bumblebee. He stopped and his face was wracked with concern, but he was weak, and there was nothing he could do to prevent his signature from being detected. With a fretted glance he looked at Sari. With determination, she wasn't going to just give up. She just needed to find an exit faster. She motioned for Bumblebee to push forward. So he did. Weaving in between and through buildings to evade them.

Sari shockingly gasped as she nearly ran into a human hunter was coming from the other direction. Startled she grasped at her weapon tighter. The man looked her over quickly.

"He's around here somewhere. Keep your eyes open." He informed her. He then continued down his path. She stood their in dumbfound. Then her mind clicked. Bumblebee was right behind her. He wasn't now. She cursed under her breath and back tracked her steps. Looking around at the buildings she spotted one with a large broken window. Hoping and thinking back at Bumblebee's stealthy movements, she closed in and looked for an opening of her own. Her posturing was right. Glancing to the ceiling she spotted the yellow mech struggling to hide in the shadows while dangling from the support structures on the ceiling. A stack of old crates was shoved up to the wall and a window gleamed light into the dark room. Hoisting her gun to her back she struggled her way up to be on the same level as Bumblebee. Being next to the window, she glanced out to see that it gave her access to the roof. She turned back to look at Bumblebee. Maybe they could just hide here until nightfall.

Then the persistent voices could be heard. They closed in on the building. She knew because they didn't find her entrance, but rather were trying to break down the door.

"Bee! Come on!" She hissed.

Bumblebee didn't need to be told twice. Reaching over with great strength he extended his hand to grasp the other bracket to move towards Sari. But that great strength he always had wasn't there. He faltered, His arm gave away to his weight leaving him dangling with no way to lift himself up. He looked up and before he could formulate what to do next, his fingers gave away. His body fell, and striking feet first, they gave out under him. His one leg shot out in pain and broken up damage reports. He crumpled to the dirt.

The noises and voices outside amplified. Acknowledging that their target was inside.

"Bee!" Sari yelped. Forcing himself to a sit, Bumblebee accessed his situation which was direly bad. An axe splintered through the wood of the door. It creaked as the man wielding the axe struggled with the resistance of pulling it out again. Then it slipped free. Ready to take another pounding swipe. Quickly Bumblebee rolled to his feet. He moved to the crates that Sari had used to get up. Using those, and the braces of the upper floors, he pulled himself upwards. He still struggled against his own weight. Above him Sari extended a hand, absolutely worthless of a gesture but so desperate she did it anyways. Ignoring it, Bumblebee reached his arm around the window. The remaining glass fractured but outside of the noise was completely unknown to him. Slowly his strength lifted his body up. Just as below him, another axe swipe cracked into the door, streaming in another beam of light. Now rolling over the window's edge Sari jumped down. It was a wallop of a landing for her, being thirteen feet, but it wasn't any more strenuous than the things she did in the past year. Bumblebee however, crash landed. She yelped and tore her body aside as his body crumpled down. He then grasped the window for leverage as he pulled himself to his feet. Damage sensors flared up at the back of his bad leg by just the mere act of putting weight on it. Reaching down he touched his sensitive circuitry. The touch pads on his digits indicated something and when he pulled it up to his optic to see what, horror flooded him. The crimson sand coated his digits. He rasped in alarm. Then below him, a large knock of wood and the door broke open. Almost distraught with surrender Bumblebee fleetingly pulled away from the window. Sari motioned for him once again and then carried the lead. Bumblebee ran behind her, with each step on his bad leg a flood of dread rushed over him. He slowed. He stopped. His body could not take any more of this. Slumping to his knees he stayed there. Sari was at the edge of the building before she turned back to see him there in defeat. She trotted back to him.

"We're almost there. I can see an exit just over there." She smiled, she was in a hopeful mood. Bumblebee looked at her, feeling so stupid for wasting her time. She was risking so much to help him, and in the end it wouldn't do any good. He warbled quietly. "Come on." She extended her arm and encouraged. Bumblebee's optics sunk away. He'd play along. He'd play along just to give her hope. He slowly made his way back to his feet.

Together they reached slipped back down the building's side and disappeared into the underground hole.


	11. Chapter 11

It's a long chapter... it makes up for it right? Right?

Awww :(

* * *

These were the worst tunnels he had yet to navigate. Sari was right. No human in their right mind would ever expect to find something his size down here. Even human dwellings didn't seem this cramped or this claustrophobic before. They were, but not at the level of ridiculousness he was in right now. At the present moment he was wedged between two very tight walls. Stuck, unable to move either forward or backwards as the walls uncomfortably grated at his wounds. Especially painful was his overly sensitive sensors flaring up in his chest wound and his damaged wheel.

_Well this was a stupid way to end it._ Not by the hands of an evil Decepticon finally laying claim to an extinct competition or some misguided human doing what he or she could do to remove a threat off their home world, no, it was going to be- a wall.

He tried to ignore Sari's scrutiny as she studied his situation.

"You know, I've seen you get through smaller doors while you were a car!" Sari lamented as she shook her head. Bumblebee snorted at her statement. For one, t_hose doors didn't have jagged edges!_ "Come on Bee, I know you can get though this." She reached up and carefully wrapped her fingers around his chin like structure. "Come on. Just a little bit farther." She pulled, but he wasn't budging. He jerked his head out of her grasp. She hadn't realized that when she tugged, she put pressure on the crack in his jaw. "Bee!" Her tone went more stern. "It opens up wider up ahead, you just have to get past this." Sari then stepped back and glared at him. "You're not even trying!'

Bumblebee shot Sari a nasty glare. He then threw out a sharp vent and grasped at the ground for a grip. Popping his shoulder out of the enclosure's vice, he scrapped his body through the hole. He slide through trying his best to ignore the barrage of damage reports that flooded his systems. She stepped back and let him have his much needed room. Which he did need. Despite being a mechanized organism with members of his kind taking on the cruelest of punishment without the slightest flinch, Bumblebee wasn't particularly the best at dealing with pain. He needed a moment to recuperate.

Once past their latest obstacle they continued to track through the narrow tunnels. Luckily, as Sari had stated, their passageway lead into a larger cavern. It was still too dark and compressed for Bumblebee's likings, but in a way, it sort of reminded him of home. Not particularly a very good memory either, rather this reminded him of the old tunnels that had once been carved out of the metal planet to sneak passage in and around the enemy cities. So really, outside of the abhorrent passageway he was caught in hours ago, these tunnels could have easily been carved out by Decepticon hands. It made more sense that way really, as humans obviously didn't need that much room to navigate.

To rest, they settled down in the end of one of the passages. Though recharge deemed elusive, he needed the rest, but now he needed something even more. He needed a source of external energy. Hidden behind the thick energon smog or not he needed that star's radiation. Or energon itself. Maybe the humans still had a cash of energon they could give him.

_Stupid, Bumblebee. _Almost comical. As humans would say it, that bridge was already burnt. The humans don't trust him. Reminder, they're hunting for him at this very moment. Not that he could blame them; after what he allowed to happen to their planet. That and he nearly and probably got Riley killed, he threatened Marcus's life, as well as their saviors, the only one he had left on his side was Sari and she was already doing too much for him. His optics shifted. They settled down on Sari's slumbering form. At least one of them could still rest. The dim light slowly twirled inside his orbital as he watched her body's rhythmical movement from the exertion of her lungs. Then he suddenly expected her frame to shrivel and twist in pain while she struggled for breath. Bumblebee reeled back. It was Sam's coughing and hacking that flooded through his mind.

* * *

There was that cage dividing them. Bumblebee wrapped his hand across the bars as the gaps were too narrow for him to reach inside. This was the best he could do to provide comfort. Sam woke briefly from his hacking to curl in closer to his hand. Despite his own exhaustion Bumblebee forced his hand's temperature to rise. Sam's body registered as being colder than it should be. It sickened Bumblebee to see Sam like this; to see Sam already in this horrid state from only a few weeks under Megatron's control. Broken bones, little food or water and a constant state of fear were all taking their toll on Sam so quickly. He wanted to do anything to help him, to protect him but this was the best he could offer. His deepest desire was, of course, to grab his charge. To grab him and run far, far way. But, feeble warmth was all he could do. In most cases he wasn't even allowed to do that, but as long as Megatron was elsewhere and his questionable hobbies weren't doing anything disruptive, the other Decepticons allowed Bumblebee to have this moment with Sam. Some moment, as Sam shivered so hard that his chattering teeth caused Bumblebee to shudder.

He just didn't know what to do! It still wasn't enough. Bumblebee's optics closed, taking in Sam's life. It's all he had now! This was the only comfort either had! It was so important to linger. So important to hold on to it for as long as he could! Even as the heavily ozoned vent and thundering footsteps throbbing inside his sensors announced Megatron's return. Cringing could not will the massive dictator away.

"Enough you insolent fool!" A sharp grasp burrowed into Bumblebee's shoulder and ripped him away from the cage. Bumblebee was thrown down onto his back. A sharp sound of blades slinking drew his optic up to gaze at Megatron's claw. Fear welled up inside of him as he dumbly followed that claw upwards to view his new _master._ A low foreboding growl then a hostile demand was spoken out slowly and carefully. "Get back to work." Not an ounce of hostility was spared. Bumblebee's mind tried to reel but with such tremendous damage coupled with the lack of energy to expand to his mental circuits he hardly had the capacity to think his way out of this situation. His optics darted around frantically, but mostly confused. A low rumble drifted from Megatron's throat and chest. Instinct was enough to provoke Bee to move without mentally acknowledging why. Bumblebee forced his way to his feet and shuffled back. He twisted around to gaze at the horizon before him.

This was the start to Megatron's favored spot. Work had under gone to convert this human city into Megatron's own abode. In a carved out cliff below was the waves of human slaves. Most were survivors from the onslaught of sparklings that mindlessly attacked anything organic, others were marched here from nearby locations. By now most became accustomed to diverting their eyes from the hill that overlooked their misery. Misery, exhaustion and humiliation rumbled through Bumblebee's body as he trudged down the side to join them. He was bound to drop into a forced recharge sometime soon, but he hadn't yet. He couldn't. He had to push on; Megatron was back. Unlike the humans, Bumblebee dared a cautious look back. Megatron took to his throne and thumped his claw into Sam's cage. It abruptly woke Sam in a squawk. Bumblebee vented. For all the exhaustion and humiliation and torture that coursed through him, it compared to nothing of the horror of what he had to do now.

Now the other Decepticon guards regained their interest in Bumblebee. They heckled at him and growled low laughter at him as he slowly trudged by. Bee's optics sunk to the ground so his gaze would avoid them. But it inadvertently showed him his work at hand. To his dread there was a small cluster of humans mourning over a young man who was laying in the dirt. Their cries changed to alarm as Bumblebee slowly crept forward. Some fled while others refused to leave the man's side. The remainder fought to pull the wailing friends and family back to safety. Then to Bumblebee's deepest horror, he stood looking down at a man who was wheezing. A Decepticon guard had whipped him for a punishment of some sort, and exerted too much force, nearly lacerating the man into two._ But he was still alive! _Bumblebee reeled back, whirring in horror, and shuttering at the presence of the Decepticon guard who would make sure that Bumblebee completed his task. Exhaustion and horror loaded his body, for a brief moment his mental circuit screamed at him to run, but the reaction was too slow. To slow to react as the Decepticon guard grabbed Bumblebee and forced him down to his knees. A human female cried out louder as there were now two robots hovering over her kin.

"Do your job, you useless piece of slag." Those words were dripped off of metallic mouthplates and into Bumblebee's sensors. The guard wasn't a military Decepticon, but he was still far larger than Bumblebee. Bumblebee barked in feeble protest. He tried to fight back but the Decepticon slide his leg to pin him from moving back. He then kicked out one of Bumblebee's arms causing him to loose his balance. Before Bumblebee could right himself his hand was jerked back and he was held in a state of unsteadiness. "Do your job!" Then the Decepticon threw his knee into Bumblebee's back. The force knocked Bumblebee down and his hand was guided purposely to crush the man. The woman shrieked. Bumblebee screamed as his sensors relayed all the crushing bones and soft tissue squelching across his digits. As soon as he could, he tore his hand back. The guard promptly released him and returned to his post to leave Bumblebee there shocked and horrified of what just happened. A female collapsed in a state of hysteria. Bumblebee still struggling against the feeling of warm blood sopping off of his digits, took a horrified glance up to see other guards around them. Most all of them looked on in their own expression of horror. Maybe it was because of a truly horrible thought of getting organic juices into their parts; Bumblebee truly hoped that it was because they too were horrified by the malice.

Venting rapidly to try and cool down his circuits that now somehow found the energy to over heat, Bumblebee backed away.

* * *

Bumblebee warbled and shuttered as he tried to shake his mind free. He didn't need these memories again. He couldn't handle them!

His warbled screech was loud enough to wake Sari. When she startled with a gasp his optics snapped down to gaze at her frame once again. Without logical or mental reasoning his hand reached forward instinctively. Even though he could see that she was breathing, it was as if he physically needed to verify that she was functioning, to reassure himself that she was in fact alive. Then a horrifying thought burst into his mind.

_He should just crush her. Just end it so she didn't have to suffer this miserable existence._

His spark exploded in such horror that he instantly felt sick. His hand hovered over her. In a commotion, he twisted it back with a hiss. _That wasn't his thought!_ It happened so quickly and so clearly, but that wasn't, he'd never-

He would _never_ hurt her! She was too dear to him! He reeled. His mind was corrupted! It had to be. Why would such a horrible thought exist like that? Unless, what if it wasn't corrupted. What if he stumbled upon some defense mechanism unknown to him before. No! It couldn't be that, that was even more horrifying!

"Bumblebee?" Sari asked softly as she picked herself up. Bumblebee instantly froze. "Bumblebee what's wrong?" She shuffled up and approached him.

With the awareness of Sari's approach, he snarled, removed his location from hers, and promptly placed it across the room.

Sari's chest tightened in alarm. "Bumblebee?" He crouched and became more defensive. "Bumblebee, talk to me!" The response was a low sinister hum from the robot's direction. Sari took a step towards him but when the hum's intensity increased, she paused. "Bee please?"

His hum quieted as he slowly tore his optics away from her eyes. Sari wrapped her arms around her body and dared another step forward. What she hoped didn't happen did, he went tense again and he made another quick snarl of foreboding.

Minutes stretched by before Bumblebee's circuits finally cooled down. Sari sensing the change dared another cautious attempt to approach him. She nearly reached arm's length before a great hand carefully pushed her away.

"Bumblebee, I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong!"

His optic sparked as he pulled himself out of his befuddled thought to look at her. She stood there waiting for something, waiting for anything. Bumblebee studied her for a moment. He tried to find the vocals and words to speak but fell short. _He didn't want to become attached. _Why was it so damn hard to convey that? His optics drifted to the blackness of the cave. _But she cared._ She showed him signs of affection in the past. By getting close to him now she was still expressing affection. He inwardly shuttered. He didn't want to, but he had to admit it. Still he couldn't find the voice to express it. Sari perked in confusion as she heard music thump into the cavernous air. Music from his radio, too energized for the current mood, now spilled out telling her things he couldn't say.

#I would like to tell you, I would like to say; That I knew that this would happen; That things would go this way; But I cannot deceive you, this was never planned # # I know that I'll have regrets but that's the price of one more lesson learnt. 1..2..3...4,5,6,7: Right face, wrong time, she's sweet (But I don't wanna fall in love) Too late, so deep, better run cause- (I don't wanna fall in love) Right face, wrong time, she's sweet (But I don't wanna fall in love) Can't sleep, can't eat, can't think straight (I don't wanna **) # _**I don't wanna fall in love - She wants revenge**_

The song died down abruptly leaving a fidgety robot. Sari furrowed her eyebrows at the message. Bumblebee had continued to avoid her gaze. When she finally collected herself to make an inquiry about it, he turned his back to her.

"Just, go back to recharge, Sari."

Then she was left solemn. "Bee-"

"Sari, quiet!" Bee snapped at her as the corner of his optic shot a glare at her.

She became quiet. Festering with rage no doubt. He didn't dare to see. Then her quiet footsteps suggested she reached the wall and sat down. He knew she was watching him. Glaring at him. Maybe trying to see if there was anything left inside his soul. His very corrupt and dead soul. He still couldn't believe that thought happened. Thoughts! He said the same about Riley! Was this really what it has come down to? A killing machine where the thoughts of destroying life came so freely and so readily- even to those whom which he had no malice against. He once thought that the instinct to kill had to be learned.

That it wasn't natural. Not for his kind.

_Was he really so wrong?_

* * *

Steam and heat poured out of the barrel and out into the cold Cybertronian air. Beyond the thick, ghostly wisps two yellow optics stared back at him. Oddly, they held no malice or anger against the yellow Autobot; there existed too much shock and surprise for that. Too much to be filled with horror. Bumblebee was grounded, his cannon stretched upwards, still holding a glow within the barrel. Despite the training that taught him to hold steady, the cannon was rattling uncontrollably. Bumblebee's optics, brightly vivid and just as shocked, stared back at the Decepticon. The Decepticon's arms were draped weakly at his sides. In one hand, the gun slipped out from the weakening digits. It rattled loudly as it clattered across the ground. An eternity in a klick passed between the two. Bumblebee shifted off from laying flat on his back to propping himself up on his other arm. Though he moved, his cannon never strayed from its mark. The red hot searing hole on the Decepticon's chest dimmed from the cold. However raw energy continued to pour out of his body. Then the Decepticon dropped to his knees causing Bumblebee to flinch. The Decepticon's life was quickly draining out of his systems. Another gruelingly long moment passed before that shocked gaze detached from Bumblebee's optics and down to his own wound. His hand reached up and caught the flowing energy. The glittering purplish blue liquid pooled into his mechanical hands. In confusion the yellow optics once again returned back to Bumblebee. The shaking weapon finally stooped. _I'm sorry!_ Bee wanted to cry out at him, but how so very stupid! It wouldn't take back the bullet! It wouldn't give him his life back. The trembling from his cannon arm spread throughout his whole body. His floating sensors shaking uncontrollably were testament to it. He just _killed _someone! Bumblebee just took his life! He was horrified. He didn't want it. He wanted to give it back! But he couldn't.

He stared. So many processes were running at once, so many that he could only sit there in a stupor. He wanted to call for a medic. To comfort him. He was dying. Dying alone! But they were enemies! They were out for each others life! He was the one who did it! He took his life away! He shot first!

"I-" Was the only thing Bumblebee could muster out. The Decepticon wouldn't listen anyways. His optics drifted into a dull stare off into the abyss. Then for a fleeting moment regained consciousness and gave Bumblebee one last look. Still there was no anger. Just one last question. A question of why. Of how.

_How could he do this to him?_

_Why?_

_What was the worth of this?_

Bumblebee shook his head with an overload of strange emotions. Then the Decepticon's body collapsed and he was gone. His yellow optics faded to black.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there staring at the life gone. It wasn't until an explosive burst ruptured the world around him to shake him from sitting there like a motionless idiot for groons to come. He yelped and pulled himself to his side for useless protection as he looked around. It wasn't at near proximity like he thought so his mind soon returned to the lifeless body before him. There was no light in his optics. Only death.

"BB!" A metal body clanked as it intercepted his friend. Cliffjumper pulled Bumblebee to his feet. While Cliffjumper surveyed the skies above him, Bumblebee still stood there in a stupor.

"I killed him." Bumblebee said with the same stupefaction he felt.

"Yeah?" Cliffjumper looked down. "That slagging scrapheap got what he deserved!"

Bewildered optics shifted to his red mirror-like friend. Deserved! But before his mind could comprehend anything else, Cliffjumper pushed him forward. "Now let's get the slag out of here before that next bomb is intended for us!"

They drifted through the broken landscape until they found a small pocket of Autobots to regroup with. Cliffjumper was quick to point out Bumblebee's heroics of taking his first kill. Bee reeled in shock, he couldn't comprehend how he was supposed to be proud of that! This was Cliffjumper, he knew. He had a weird way of brushing his friend's insecurities aside and pushing on his boastful attitude onto others, but to suggest that killing was supposed to be something to boast about! Some Autobots apparently thought so.

It was only a matter of time before he learned that admiration and committing the act were two very distinctive things, because not long after, Cliffjumper made his first kill. It was the first time Bumblebee saw such a truly dark side to his best friend. He turned terrifyingly quiet. His expression, his demeanor. Those became frightful as well. There would be no bragging about this later, for now it was just a cold stare at the life gone. Dismissed but not forgotten.

Perhaps he_ was _wrong_._ Maybe it was because back then, Bumblebee didn't understand. Maybe it was because- he didn't want to.

Cliffjumper had become an effective killer. One who would shoot first and not ever bother with questions. It was a side of him that terrified Bumblebee. It terrified him because despite his warm appearance as a friend, that dark side was there. That this dark side has always been there. Or maybe it was terrifying because deep down, he knew he had the same dark side.

Was Optimus really the only thing that kept him from becoming so corrupt? To becoming a slaughtering, mindless killer? What would have happened to them if Optimus wasn't there to guide them? Would they turn on each other? Become like the Decepticons who would slay, slaughter and torture for their own advancement and amusement. It scared him when he saw it in Cliffjumper, because deep down, he didn't want to see his own. Like he did when he killed Swindle and the others. He went out of his way to go after them. Just like Cliffjumper always had.

"_Cliffjumper_! What are you doing?" Bumblebee yelped out as he turned to see that Cliffjumper wasn't hustling back to safety like he should be.

"What's it look like!" His red mirror image snarled back at the newly titled scout. They were both still learning the ropes in their new found professions so it was mandatory to go at least in pairs. Bumblebee soon discovered that he'd rather be paired up with Arcee rather than his best friend Cliffjumper.

"There are unstable energy pockets everywhere. You're going to blow this place into smithereens!"

"I am counting on it!" Cliff sounded too eager. His cannon steadied upon the Decepticon who was across the valley from them. The Decepticon had registered their scent and touched down to investigate. Bumblebee shot a glance behind him, gauging how badly they were stuck in a box canyon with only this carved out cave behind them. It was supposed to be their escape route while they simply left the Decepticon alone. If Cliff struck any pocket of energy it would bottle neck on their position.

"Cli-iff!" Bumblebee trotted forward and reached for Cliffjumper's shoulder trying to dissuade him.

"I gotcha, you sparkless spawn of a glitch!"

Before Bumblebee could touch him, Cliffjumper's weapon launched out a charged plasma shot. The blast went low, hitting at the Decepticon's feet. It was on purpose. As the Decepticon collapsed and just as Cliffjumper gauged, the ground beneath him shattered open and a pocket of bulbous energy formed at the surface. The unstable energy then veined out to other energy pockets in the area. It was only then that Cliff suddenly took concern for their own safety. Bumblebee now stood frozen, his hand still stretched forward, as he watched the bubble expand into gigantic proportions.

"Oh slag!" Cliff growled and clamped onto Bumblebee's arm pulling him back with him. The bubble rippled and both set of optics widened in horror. "RUN!"

The both turned and bipedaled a few giant leaps before launching into their Alt forms. These forms were very different than their future Earthly terrestrial forms. They were sleek, more orb like, with the ability to hover so that the jagged rocks below their bodies would not impede them. That was important because the energy was closing in fast. Their forms blasted forward down the tight and narrow passageways. Any slip or miscalculation resulted in deadly tears and dents to their bodies while they sped away from the molten death that was nicking at their tailpipes. Then their voices escaped them as suddenly there was no ground for them to hover on. Though what seemed like a full klick still wasn't long enough for their circuits to register. It caused complete surprise as their bodies tumbled, crashed and bounced down the hole. Like two balls caught up inside a pinball machine, they scattered, clanked and clashed chaotically on four jagged walls until finally plopping down into a thick sludge at the bottom of this well. As the gravity and velocity sunk them farther, the hot scorching energy engulfed the surface. They transformed and vented in the liquid to keep them sunk just long enough for the energy to finally burn itself out. After the immediate danger was past, they wasted no time breaking the surface.

"Yeah'hah!" Cliff boasted triumphantly as soon as his head entered the air. Bumblebee breached the surface and gagged. Expelling the fluid from his vents and bracing onto a jagged edge he turned to Cliffjumper. His mild demeanor had been cracked.

"Are you insane? You nearly got us slagged!" He struggled against his hold as the sludge was too slimy to keep a firm grasp.

"Hey, we're still alive aren't we?" Cliff shrugged. The smirk wiped off his face quickly enough as he studied his surroundings. "Ung. You know, it reeks in here." He stated passively. Bumblebee nodded with a cringe. Cliffjumper paddled over to his Bumblebee.

"What is this place? What is this?" Bumblebee scooped up a handful of the murky blackish brown slop. Granted he owed his life to it, it was still disgusting. Cliffjumper shook his head after giving it only a momentary care. Cliffjumper turned his attention to the way they came in.

"I don't know. Let's just get out of here." At that he tried climbing the wall. He made a few strides up while the yellow bot watched from below. Then Cliffjumper's foothold slipped causing him to once again splash into the brackish fluid. Bumblebee held up his arm in protest as the sludge splashed over his body once again. Cliff resurfaced, this time, with much less amusement. "Okay. I guess we swim out."

They picked a direction based on best guessing. They trudged on through the blackness. Whatever the liquid was, it prevented them from seeing much of anything. In that blindness Cliffjumper felt something tangle up around him.

"Uhh. What do you know about the local wildlife?" Cliffjumper questioned cautiously as he slowed down. With an unnerving question like that, Bumblebee turned to his friend in concern. "Something has my-" Cliffjumper slowly reached down to hopefully release it. It let go easily enough, then something bobbed to the surface. Two sets of optics glanced at each other before taking a cautious study of the object. As they watched it slowly bobbed and rotated as air escaped the empty cavity. Something grizzly broke through the surface. Both bots shrieked and jumped back as they saw the hallowed out head of a dead Cybertronian. Regaining themselves, Cliff tried to pass it off as if he hadn't been spooked by such a thing. Bumblebee was content to continue on without heckling his friend for screaming. He just wanted out of this mess!

"This is so disgusting!" Bumblebee noted as they trudged through the underground river. They swam around another body. The count for dead bodies was now past the forties.

"It must be some kind of slag pit." Cliffjumper finally guessed.

"A slag pit?" Bumblebee retorted. "Full of dead bodies?"

Cliffjumper grasped onto the nearest one which drew a disgusted look from Bumblebee. "Yeah." Cliffjumper examined the emblem on the deceased. "It's an Autobot. I bet the base of this place was a dumping ground for bodies. Courtesy of the Decepticons." Disdain was deep in Cliffjumper's words. "Judging by the amount of bodies, we can't be far from the entrance. Let's quit loitering and get the slag out of here!"

It was still another groon before they finally spotted a sign of it's end. There was finally that shimmer of light signaling to the outside world. Both readily lapped through the liquid to reach it's end but the sudden swelling of heat and an even more powerful stench sapped their ambition. The opening of the underground body of liquid was nearly plugged with more empty bodies. Both exchanged a fretful glance. They had to get up close and personal and try and dig their way out. Worse as that the temperature was growing past uncomfortable to painful. However spending a nanoklick more in this goop was too much! One by one the shells of fallen brothers were pulled free from the clog. It was quite clear that most were in fact Autobots or civilians who hadn't yet taken a side. A mistake to Megatron's ever expanding war where if you didn't hold allegiance solely with the Decepticons, you were an enemy. As soon as the hole was large enough the two Autobots eagerly crawled through. If nothing else, to get out of the heat. That's when they noticed that floating on top of the thick oozy dark liquid was a delicate sheen. Bumblebee's optics studied the silvery mix before his eyes drew cautiously to Cliffjumper. Without a word Cliff reached through and pulled himself past the mass of bodies. His body poured off the hot steam that was uncomfortably tingling every sensor that had been submerged. He turned and helped out his friend. As unsightly as it was, they used the bodies to avoid slipping into the hot liquid to reach the bank. Now with both bots resting they were able to get a better grasp of what was going on. The hot liquid was pouring down from a high ledge and mixing into the underground cavern. The delicate sheen was in more abundance as it pooled in.

"Okay, what is _that_?" Bumblebee put more emphasis on the second strange occurrence since this muckle of slag began. Cliffjumper twisted his head slightly. It was a motion of language Bumblebee wished he hadn't learned from him. It meant to go check it out. Climbing to the bank and looking over, it was now obvious on what it was. Protoform metal. Stripped from the bodies, extracted and sorted.

"A smelting pool." Cliffjumper raised his optics. "They're melting-" he started to say, but the thought was too sickening to continue. Their evidence was the dismembered parts and the claw marks that one only had to use slight imagination to realize the horror of getting tossed down while still alive. At the edge of a ledge a hand was still clawed into the metal. An act of sheer will power to not die. Or a feeble attempt to avoid going into or climbing out of the molten liquid. It obviously did whomever it was no good. At their backs was the dead bodies pooled around the mouth of the slag pit. It wasn't a dumping pit, it was just overflow. Overflow from the Transformers that were tossed into the smelting pool as a probable afterthought of what to do with the prisoners. Toss them in alive and watch them as they frantically tried to climb their way out as the sweltering hot magma as it slowly and painfully dissolved their bodies. Then scoop up precious protometal as a _reward_. The world of horrors spun around the two bots. Bumblebee went silent, too stricken with horror to overcome his shock. Cliffjumper slid to a sit below the ledge. He pulled Bumblebee down with him. They needed a moment to regain themselves. Those damned Decepticons! They were boiling down bodies so they could be stripped apart. For what! Well, it didn't take a scientist to figure out that their bodies could be used for building weapons, spare ammo, structures, and morbid medical procedures. What disgusting desecration! Both Bumblebee and Cliffjumper shuttered. It also meant they swam right into the middle of enemy territory.

"We need to get out of here!" Bumblebee quickly got to his feet.

"Yeah sure!" Cliff snarled back at such an obvious statement. "The only problem is we have no idea where we are?"

Bumblebee was silent as he too realized he couldn't get an accurate ping on their location.

"We are so slagged!"

"Well," Cliffjumper thought out loud, "we need to get our coordinates."

"We're supposed to send out communication? In the middle of Decepticon territory! They'll be onto us within klicks! We'll be turned into that!" Bumblebee made a commotion with his arm to signal the pit.

"I know. Look there is supposed to be an Autobot base somewhere in this location. Just keep your cool."

"Suggesting we went in the right direction, which we can't verify for sure. This obviously doesn't _look _like Autobot territory!"

"Like I said. Keep your cool." The glare Cliffjumper gave to Bumblebee was enough to quiet the yellow bot and force him to think calmly.

"Wait. What was that Ironhide was trying to teach us? The sub route communication arrays. Maybe we can get help through that. We could get our coordinates without alerting the Decepticons."

"Ye'ah. About that, unless I have a cerebral cortex malfunction and loose my emotional processor there's no way I'm ever touching that. But hey, you're the academic type? You ever figure it out?"

Bumblebee sunk. "No. I couldn't understand it."

"That bodes well." Cliffjumper used the most sarcastic words possible in their language. He glanced back over the ridge. The visible horizon was pretty desolate outside of the steam rising from the smelting pool. "All I know is that we can't stay here. I say we pick a direction under the assumption that our math was right earlier. That Autobot base can't be too far."

Bumblebee gave him a fretful expression. "Cliffjumper, if our math was right, this _should_ be the Autobot base."

Cliffjumper gave a passive stare at Bumblebee.

"Come on." Cliffjumper decided to ignore Bumblebee's fear. Following Cliffjumper strolled around the smelting pool to overlook the valley below. It was their that their sparks went from pitted to nearly tearing themselves apart.

"No." Cliffjumper's word was so weak it barely left his voice processor. Bumblebee took a long hard stare at the valley then burst into a full run down the embankment for a better look. "No! Bumblebee stop!" Cliffjumper yelled as he scrambled to catch up. Below the hill Bumblebee slowed when he garnered a better observation. The valley seemed to roll on endlessly, in tightly fitted rows, as far as his optics could see. Bodies impaled through the chest by warped metal spikes were left to drift over the terrain. Some had been sliced open and their chests played with causing horrified expressions on their faces. Other spikes bore only the heads or sparks of their victims. Cliff swooped down behind Bumblebee braking his foothold on the loose gravel as he came to a stop. Bumblebee slowly crept forward as he tried in vain to take in all the cruelty. Cliffjumper vented and glared his optics at the ground dreading at the idea that his friend would crumble to the savagery. To scream out unable to take the horror. To go frozen and unresponsive out of grief like so many before, but he was taken by surprise that Bumblebee did none of that. There was still time, and he didn't want to just wait for it to happen.  
"Bumblebee, we need to get out of here!" Cliffjumper quickly approached his friend.

"What happened here?" Bee hoarsely whispered. Cliff glared inward. It was an obvious answer, but before he could say so something swooped behind them and caught their sensors. They both turned on their heel in full alert with a tight choke of alarm. They both perked their sensors high to the direction something may or may not be. Ominous wind pushed it's hand at creating the illusion of moving dead bodies. Then an incoherent blip coupled with the eerie knot of dread provoked them both to bolt into a run in the opposite direction. They ran through the endless forest of bodies before expending a full eighth of their energy. They stopped abruptly and rescanned the area. Nothing. A set of bright blue optics exchanged a glance with a set of greenish blue optics in fret.

"Great. This just keeps getting better and better."

Bumblebee made a poor attempt at optimism. "Maybe it was a survivor." It provoked a 'oh please' glare from Cliff. Bumblebee adhered to the glare. He didn't want to go back to check it out. He followed up with a click to acknowledge the soundless language. Again following Cliffjumper's lead, they continued on their trek. Their internal mechanisms for keeping track of time registered little time passed, but it felt like forever had passed. Then another noise and both went from high alert to near frantic. Then to rigid horror as they pinpointed the location of the sound. It was solid. Bumblebee shot a glance at Cliffjumper. The red Autobot unfolded a bladed weapon from his arm. Both carefully weaved in between the spikes and focused on the sound's point of origin. Just as they closed in, Cliffjumper nodded and both jumped forward, it was followed by a scream of surprise mixed in with pain. Both Autobots jumped back in horror to see a survivor with a spike sheered through his chest. He was struggling frantically to get away from the two, begging and crying nothing coherent, and trying desperately to claw at the energon and coolant soaked metal spear.

"Whoa! Hold on there bud. Cliffjumper took a quick swift motion to slice the stake while Bumblebee caught the bot and settled him to the ground. He carefully pulled out the rest of the pike. Splashes of energon and coolant dripped across the ground. There, the trembling Cybertronian winced away with more cries. He still tried to escape from the two yellow arms that surrounded him.

"Hey! It's okay! Easy!" Bumblebee grasped at the Cybertronian's faceplate and forced their optics to meet. Bumblebee also shared his force field trying desperately to comfort the frightened being. The Cybertronian tensed, withered in pain, then cackled out in hysteria.  
"Easy." Bumblebee repeated. Cliffjumper took a keen study of the surrounding area to make sure the commotion didn't attract any attention. The Cybertronian, which the Autobots noted had no insignia, which meant civilian- well- neutral as the word civilian no longer meant anything, settled again once. His optics reached the red emblem on Bee's helm. He calmed, then passed out. Bumblebee vented unsure what to do now. He then shot his optics up in alarm as Cliffjumper nonchalantly stepped away. "Cliff?"

"Look we can't stay here."

"Well help me carry him!"

"Leave him!"

Bumblebee froze at Cliffjumper's sharp demand. His angered optics studied his friend for a moment.

"We can't leave him. He's still alive!" Bumblebee growled.

"We can't bring him with us, he'll only slow us down."

"Well then what do you propose we do!"

"End it. End his suffering."

"What!" Bumblebee heckled. He stared at Cliffjumper. Cliffjumper was entirely serious but he was also giving Bumblebee the look as if he expected _him_ to do it. "No!" Bumblebee yelped. He backtracked. Then in spite snarled at Cliffjumper. "Well. Then. You do it!" Cliffjumper looked back at Bumblebee as if angered by the demand, just as he had expected, but Cliffjumper then said something that left him stupefied.

"Fine. I will." Cliffjumper stepped forward and unleashed his weapon yet again. Bumblebee stepped back in tension. His optics were locked on Cliffjumper. Emotionally he was mixed with confusion, protest and rage, but at the same time Cliffjumper had to be bluffing!

One nanoklick.

Two nanoklick.

_He had to! Cliffjumper wouldn't!_

Three nanoklick, Cliffjumper's stern eyes shuttered then softened. By the fifth nanoklick his weapon receded. "Uh." Cliffjumper backtracked. "We haven't seen any _real_ sign that we're in danger yet and, there should be a smaller compound nearby. We can try to get him there." He bashfully turned away.

Relief filled Bumblebee after seeing that Cliffjumper couldn't pull the trigger. That really frightened him for a moment. He nodded and with the help of Cliff, leveled the unconscious body onto his shoulder. Cliffjumper took the lead. They worked to get out of this forsaken hellhole and somewhere safe.

The long Cybertronian day finally drifted to night. They managed to make their way out of the forest of death and into a cave to take refuge in. Bumblebee had just drifted into a partial recharge when the civilian stirred next to him. Cliffjumper tapped Bumblebee's shoulder to wake him. Cliff's blue green optics darted to Bumblebee's for a moment. The look he gave Bumblebee was a bad omen. The first thing the neutral did when he regained consciousness was to start babbling via begging and pleading.

"No! No! No! Please! Please!" In consecutive repetition until Bumblebee leaned over him.

"Hey! You're safe now!"

"No! No where's safe! We trusted him! How could he do this to us!"

Bumblebee's optics shot up to Cliffjumper's in question. _Megatron?_ Both were thinking it.

"You need to calm down!"

"No, it wasn't supposed to be like this! Everyone! Everyone is in danger! And we trusted him! They're going to destroy us all!"

"You need to calm down! You're loosing too much energon!" Cliffjumper knelt down and grabbed the neutral's shoulders. The civilian was too excited. Upon being released from his stasis lock his panicking was causing him to loose too much precious fluid. Too much, too fast from his already weakened state. "Calm down!"

Yellow colored digits befuddled around profusely trying to cap the oozing cords and seeping metal. The neutral then began fighting the attempts to stop the bleeding. Cliff tried to hold him still but he panicked even more. His babbling turned to screaming. He started fighting off the pin. Things were getting desperate. Then, the screaming ceased. The babbling ceased. Fighting ceased. The body begun quivering in desperation for energy.

"Hey!" Bumblebee yelled. "Hey, hang in there! Hold on!"

Then the cave went quiet again. Cliffjumper gave a painful look then withdrew his optics and mind from the situation. Bumblebee still tried calling to him but went quiet as the rest of his scans indicated that there was no life to be found. With an uneasy vent Cliffjumper stepped away.

"Let's just get out of here." He said dryly as he looked out of the cave's opening.

"We can't." A moment of pause. Then Bumblebee stood up. His sensors were set down sadly against his body as he looked at the dead body. "We need to find out what happened. We need to go back!"

"No way."

"We have to!"

"No. We. Don't!"

Bumblebee shot a look of determination that Cliffjumper didn't expect. "We have to. We need to find out what happened!" Bumblebee stepped towards the exit. His armor folded down defensively against his body.

"Why would you go back! There's nothing there!"

"There's answers. I'm going to find them."

Cliffjumper watched in disbelief as Bumblebee walked by him. His voice heckled his disbelief and disapproval. Then taking a quick glance back at the body, growled a word of anger and followed. As the two reached the edge of the death and destruction, Cliffjumper broke company. Without a word Bumblebee questioned what Cliffjumper was doing.

"Ah well, I never agreed that I had to go back. You go do whatever you're going to do." Then he walked forward and without looking at Bumblebee, he gave his directive, "I'm going to find the bastards who did this." It was that callous, dark side of himself mixed into his voice. It disturbed Bumblebee. Still Cliffjumper was his friend. An edge wasn't going to change that.

"Cliff! That's too dangerous!"

"Nah." Cliffjumper's right and left arm unleashed short blades that glowed with hot Cybertronian steel. He cast a coy look back to his yellow mirror-like friend. "They'll never see me coming."

Bumblebee didn't like it. He really didn't like it. He kept most of his chiding to himself however. Cliffjumper was stubborn and Bumblebee rather not make the split end in a bad festering way. Especially if Cliffjumper was going to do something stupid enough like start a fight with a real military trained Decepticon. Still. He didn't like it. He tried to convince himself that Cliffjumper had little chance to actually find someone to pick a fight with.

Yeah. Right.

Bumblebee hated this.

Cliffjumper went Primus knows where while Bumblebee made the best of a beeline that he could to the central buildings. It was still in the deep dead of night before Bumblebee finally found what was left of the compound. He scrounged through the rubble like a drone. By now, his energy levels were sapped. All the roaming around without a recharge, his fret over his friend's safety, the horrible emotional exhaustion of all these dead, worse their death coated his body and into his internal vents; all took their toll and left him in an energy crash. Bumblebee pried off a piece of metal paneling and finally, for some good news since this whole debacle, found the computer. Granted it was hardly in one piece. Energy escaped and snapped at the air. Still it was together enough for Bumblebee to finagle and patch himself into to get the information he needed. He knelt down and started pulling wires and computer parts out of the mess. He interlocked his systems into the computer's. What he couldn't merge with, he worked around through loose wires. Jacked in, he did a cursory glance at the information. There was so much mundane information that he couldn't gain anything from it. Not without a closer look. That was something that would take days. So he put more focus into the last time stamp, and there fret overtook him. From the visual he saw and realized- the attack didn't start from outside.

It was an inside job! Betrayal! That's what the neutral was babbling about! As the data looped, he saw what looked like an Autobot slaying another. Then he overtook the computer console, unlocked the doors and outside, a Decepticon party was waiting to be received.

He pulled more wires and pulled a data disk to transfer the files too. He _had _to get this to Optimus. He compounded everything together. He tried to get a pin on the person who back stabbed the leader of the compound, sifting through more visual and recorded data, it looked as if he collaborated with many. How many! Bumblebee carefully sifted through the large block of data he had to transfer. Getting too much data would be bad, but getting too little would be catastrophic. He would have been completely unawares of the danger unfold behind him if it wasn't for a metal panel crashing into the ground. Bumblebee jumped to his feet to face the noise. His sensors perked desperately in full alert. He however, didn't stray from the computer's side. He was still interlocked with wires dangling from his systems and splayed into the computer. Hard breaking could result in damage to his person and result in data lost forever.

"Who's there!" Bumblebee demanded. He _hoped_ that Cliffjumper came to his senses and came back.

Hope shattered, the Decepticon, realizing that his ruse attack was now void, stepped out into Bumblebee's view. Bumblebee stepped back in alarm. The Decepticon drew up a blade. His optics were harsh. Emotionless. The Decepticon took a step forward. Bumblebee stood frozen. Bumblebee's optics caught the dried fluid on the blade and his mind locked. Optics flicked back to the red gaze. Bumblebee was paralyzed at what he saw. In the distortion of the red reflection his mental circuits warped an image of Bumblebee twisted unnaturally as his chest was ruptured open. Left hanging in pain until all his fluid seeped out of him, or boiling to death in hot molten lava. The Decepticon bounded for an attack but before he could touch Bumblebee, or Bumblebee broke free to run, the Decepticon stopped short in a gurgle. Energon sprayed out from his chest and speckling Bumblebee's grime coated metal. Wrenched through his chest a set of blades gleamed with bright energon. A red plated hand reached around and grasped at the Decepticon's head, crushing bits of it as the blade ripped through the body slicing the Decepticon nearly in half. As if that wasn't enough, before the Decepticon fell to his knees, Cliffjumper slammed his blade back in again. This time piercing out somewhere near to the shoulder. Again, he wrenched the blade out, stripping it straight down and drawing it out from under the thorax. Cliffjumper's green-blue optics were lost in the threshold of malice and evil that Bumblebee couldn't help but stare at. Then with a flicker, turned almost unnaturally friendly as they went beyond his foe and to his yellow friend. As if in a casual moment, Cliffjumper addressed his friend.

"BB, what would you ever do without me?"

Venting in silently Bumblebee turned back to the computer. He found something more urgent to focus on rather than what unspeakable evil licked at his core. Luckily, this was a very important distraction. "Cliff we need to send out communications to Ironhide." He reached down and plucked out the data disk from the over-turned writer. He opened up his arm to keep it somewhere safe.

"We've already been through this. We can't send out a signal from here."

"This can't wait. Besides, we're not in Decepticon territory." Bumblebee didn't wait for Cliffjumper's response. "I'm sending a commlink to Ironhide now." Cliffjumper tweaked a sensor in surprise. If Bumblebee could avoid it, he'd never contact hire ups through comms or otherwise.

"You mean through channels?" Cliff questioned wondering if that's what Bumblebee meant. Though Bumblebee wasn't a fan of those either.

"No. I'm contacting him directly. Except. He's not answering." Bumblebee replied gravely. "Channels? Why would you go through channels?"

"Because I'm pretty sure Ironhide wouldn't appreciate us contacting him on his personal line. Could be why he's not answering." Bumblebee furrowed at Cliff's admission. "Here." Cliffjumper shook his head. He brought his hand up to the side of his head and turned to his internal communications. It wasn't klicks later that Cliffjumper spat out loud to whomever he was in communication with. "What is that supposed to mean?" He looked at Bumblebee. "I apparently don't have clearance! Hey!" He looked as if he just got swatted in the face. "They cut me off."

"I don't like this!" Bumblebee added.

"That doesn't make sense! Why would they not answer?"

Bumblebee was almost at a loss for words. He then chirped up. "Contact Optimus."

"BB, you just went from contacting Ironhide to contacting Optimus. That's going _up_ in rank. You know, just a tad! If we don't have clearance for Ironhide then there's no way they'll let us talk to Optimus."

"Directly." Bee spat. Cliffjumper looked at his friend incredulously. Then a moment later. "He's not answering either. Something's wrong. Something's very wrong. Where's the next base from here?"

"BB?"

"What direction!"

Cliffjumper pointed with his open palm though his optics were glued at his friend.

It was daybreak before they happened onto the much smaller Autobot post. Bumblebee had them at a running pace most of the time so both were tapped for energy as they rapped at the metal door. Bumblebee rested his head onto the door as he waited for a response. Cliffjumper knelt down to the ground behind him. After a moment, Bumblebee's enthusiasm abruptly returned once the familiar chime of the door opening responded. The doors slid open. They entered into a dark room and the doors slammed shut behind them. Before them a hologram flickered to life.

"Arg, do we really have to go through this?" Cliffjumper grumbled.

"State your business! Who are you?" The operator snapped at the two.

"Bumblebee, and Cliffjumper, Sir." Bumblebee held up his data access allowing them to confirm their identities as Autobots. The hologram carefully studied the data before his optics brightened in surprise before Bumblebee could even state their business.

"Oh, yes. I've heard of you." The hologram reached over and the doors swung open.

Bumblebee turned to Cliff. "I guess not." He replied to Cliff's question.

Now Cliffjumper felt uneasy. Sure he wanted easy, but not this easy! And with the information that Bumblebee shared with him, Cliffjumper suddenly took on Bumblebee's cautious lease on life. Cliff grabbed Bee's shoulder to prevent him from stepping forward and unleashed his weapon to his hand. Bee yelped in confusion to his friend's response.

"No. That was way too easy. Come out into the light where we can see you!" Cliffjumper growled at the operator who now frightfully stared at him from the other side of the door.

"What is this!" He shrieked. Bumblebee demanded the same thing through his vivid optics.

Cliffjumper released Bumblebee's arm and patted it. "Arm up." He ordered. "This has to be a trap."

"Cliff, you are being paranoid." Bumblebee stepped in front of him and waved for him to put his weapon away. He then turned to the other Autobot. "I apologize for my friend, we are just-" Bumblebee glanced back at Cliff, "so very weary right now."

"That's no reason to pull a gun on me!"

"I know. I'm sorry. Please, we need access to your communication arrays. We have urgent information about the Autobot base in Yellow Sector that we must-" Bee's optics went fretful as a horrid thought crossed into his mind. Without thinking they flickered over to Cliffjumper. He gravely caught the look. Bumblebee turned back to the operator. "We need to get a hold of Optimus!"

The surrendered Autobot looked at them in puzzlement. "I don't understand. What's going on?"

"Please, We'll explain everything."

"BB, you are way too trusting!" Cliffjumper spat, but reluctantly holstered his weapon. He took a step towards his yellow friend and quietly he whispered, "Don't say anything."

They were lead into another room where more Autobots were manning the area.

"Well it's not much to look at, but this is our communication hub. Now you mind telling me what the slag is going on!"

Bumblebee fidgeted seeing all optics on him. His optics dashed to Cliffjumper's.

There was a long awkward moment of silence while Bumblebee contemplated whether he should adhere to Cliffjumper's warning or not. Cliffjumper's gaze sternly studied him, but Bee couldn't make out what his friend was thinking.

"What is that smell?" The question alerted the whole room to the two new additions.

"Us." Cliffjumper bit back sharply. His attention then carefully looked over the room. His optics finally settled back at Bumblebee's optics. Cliff subtly nodded but Bumblebee still wasn't sure where he was going with this. Cliffjumper turned to the crowd. "Alright, so you all heard about the radio silence from Yellow Sector. Am I right? Gather around, everybody. I'll tell you what we know." Cliffjumper waved for everyone's attention. Bumblebee gave a suspecting look. Cliffjumper was up to something. _Because what happened to don't say anything?_ "So my partner and me, we're sent off to find out why they went all quiet on us. Direct orders from Optimus _Prime." _Emphasis on the word Prime. That word was big news in town. The symbols mysteriously etched into Optimus's protoform were determined to be written in none other than the language of the Primes. Recently it had been translated that _Optimus-_ is a PRIME! The Prime of their generations! With the powerful Primes washed away from history, to have one now was like fate had intervened on these troubled times. Having Prime's messengers address them, of course garnered everyone's immediate attention. "So we're out trekking through the area, and it's quiet. Too quiet. We found signs of enemy activity and yet we didn't find no one. Then, out of the corner of our optics, this Decepticon thought he had the drop on us. He swooped down, had cornered. But what he wasn't expecting, was a fight! Oh we gave him a one, two alright, but," Bumblebee rolled his optics at Cliffjumper's story time. "during our little scuffle, a main energy pocket was hit and the whole place went sky high. It ripped a hole right under our feet and down we went into this slag pit. Only, we found out, it wasn't something natural. It was a byproduct of," he paused, his demeanor darkened, "a smelting pool." The crowd clicked in shock. Cliffjumper reiterated," That's right a _smelting_ pool." Then even more emphasis on his next sentence. "The Decepticons were throwing in Autobots _and_ neutrals to be_ melted! Alive! _We could tell because of the scratch marks on the walls from those poor saps who tried crawling out. Imagine the horror. Being boiled. Alive. What a way to go." Cliffjumper shook his head and clenched at his armor across his spark. Though he didn't seem to be reminiscing on troubled thoughts. Bumblebee stared at him. Something didn't seem right. He then turned back to the crowd and watched in horror as they grew more and more rigid as Cliffjumper's story went on. Cliff gave more grueling details. The torture, the pikes, the body count. The wounded bot who was so terrified that he couldn't be saved. Fear over took everyone. "It gets worse." Cliffjumper added gravely. It snapped Bumblebee back to staring at the red Autobot. "Know how they did it? Several Decepticons masqueraded as Autobots infiltrated the base, unlocked the doors and left them open for an open house slaughter. They now have security codes. Stole secret information. Things like, oh just taking a gander here, every single Autobot serial number ever. Yours, mine, and just because your a neutral don't think your safe. I'm sure they have that now too. And you know, to them, you're just target practice. We are all in trouble. My recommendation: watch your backs. Or what happened to them will happen to all of us." Cliffjumper was engulfed in his dark side.

In the room, the tension was palpable. It was like smog. Once Cliffjumper stepped out of the limelight Bumblebee bolted after him.

"What are you doing!" Cliffjumper looked back at him blankly. "What happened to not saying anything? You told everyone, but did so in a way that will insight panic!"

"It will insight awareness, BB." Cliffjumper came back sternly. "My bet, there's Decepticons hiding out in every base from here to Simfur City. There's a reason why you haven't gotten a hold of Optimus yet." Cliff sunk back into a sort of hopelessness. "With him gone, then I'll be damned if I will allow that to happen to me." Cliffjumper turned away leaving Bumblebee at a loss for words while a whirling pit of blackness engulfed him. _No!_ Optimus was fine. He had to be! Bumblebee looked around in a daze and then made haste to the control panel.

He didn't want Cliffjumper to be right! He just couldn't! Not with how far Megatron had escalated his war. Optimus was really their only hope for countering. What would happen to them if they were left without lead, without hope? He scoured through all the channels and private links in the communication array for anybody near Optimus. Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl, Jazz, even Arcee couldn't be contacted. Again. Again. Somebody had to answer! Optimus pick up! He then tried to send out information to anybody who was in the compound. Nobody was responding! Channels, he pushed the channels. They told him he didn't have clearance. Bee snapped back and demanded answers. What he learned he didn't like. They reluctantly informed him of their secret, they didn't know where he was.

He pushed his energy banks to the brink, nearly at the point of a mandatory shutdown. He couldn't rest until he found some sign that this wasn't the end of the line. He'd contact the base next to them. Or the next one to that. If none of that helped then he'd carrier the message himself! He would find them! But again, at the moment he didn't have the energy to. It didn't matter, he would push his body. Be damned with his limits.

"Any luck?"

Bee's protoform clashed and nearly jumped out of his shell at the disturbance to his concentration. Bee turned wearily to see a blue and white Transformer looking over his shoulder. Not invasive, but enough that Cliffjumper took deep seeded interest at a distance.

"No. Not yet." Bumblebee mumbled wearily and turned off the arrays. Not because he nearly dropped to unconsciousness, but because Cliffjumper's paranoia found a nice little crevice inside his circuits. This bot did not need to see anything. Whether or not it was because of Cliffjumper's watch or if Bumblebee was catching on to the concept of not being so trusting, was up for debate. Still it gave him an excuse to take his much needed break. Which included a much needed decontamination shower. Which his new friend seemed to realize and was keeping his distance. "Did you need something?" Bumblebee asked harshly. Normally he would ask in a very neutral manner, but he wasn't in a very neutral state of being.

"Uh. No." The civilian mumbled. Bumblebee couldn't help but notice the waver in his posture. His optics quickly surveyed his surroundings and met with Cliffjumper's. He paused for a moment and then continued. As he did, Bumblebee took note that the room was now near empty. "I've been hoping to contact Optimus," the civilian said gravely, "but I obviously don't have the clearance for it. I was hoping you could help."

"Not right now." Bumblebee worded tiredly. "I need rest." Bumblebee then trudged down away from the communication center and towards where Cliffjumper was standing.

"Who was that?" Cliffjumper growled as Bumblebee slowly walked by.

"Nobody." BB responded groggily. "Just a civilian."

"Hmph. A neutral. Yeah, well, while you were busy playing telephone, I kept myself busy doing background checks on everyone in this facility. Your neutral. His name's Mirage. They call him an 'elite'. You know what elite is don'tcha BB? Code word for a sleaze bucket that doesn't work his equal share like everyone else but still thinks he's owed benefits. Also known as a parasite!" Cliffjumper spat. Mirage overheard the conversation and now decided to exit stage left. Cliffjumper continued to watch him even after he was out of sight. Bumblebee shrugged off the feeling that there was an edge in the room.

"Everyone has their place." Bumblebee replied wearily. He was tired and not in the mood to listen to Cliffjumper's point of view on social structures that weren't exactly like theirs. He already had Cliffjumper's theory on Optimus's silence to contend with.

"Yeah. I bet they do." Cliffjumper said accusingly. Bumblebee noted, shook his head then walked out of the room. He headed for the decontamination bay. While he slowly walked through the halls he had the appearance of exhaustion. However deep inside his core it was anything but. His spark trembled with a well of unease, hopelessness and fear. As he passed by an open door his optics drifted up to catch something that startled him. It slowly dawned on him what he was seeing. Civilians were clustered and spotted throughout the room. They cautiously and wearily stared at the Autobots who stared back in paranoia. The whole room was tense. With the drop of a data pad, Bumblebee also witnessed how on edge most of them were as weapons nearly engaged.

Bumblebee's stranglehold on his emotions wavered at the sight. He withdrew his gaze from the room now focusing entirely at holding down his own panic and fears. He just needed to get to the decontamination bay. There the sonic vibrations could drown out any force that would come out of his processor.

Inside the white tube, sonic vibrations hummed and rippled against his metallic body in an attempt to jar the grime away. Grime that wasn't dirt, wasn't something to cause rusting or infection. It was sludge that had been melted away from hundreds of bodies! Now that he was out of other's sight, the unease and horror was permitted to flood his spark. He tried to vent in to relieve it but his internal valves cringed at the foreign coating in his cooling ducts. Tension and fear started taking control of his body. Bumblebee collapsed to his knees. Optimus and everyone else in the base they came from wasn't responding. That left him with nothing! Did Megatron effectually slice off the head of the tiny resistance that had popped up? What would they do now? What would happen to him!

His mind unraveled at the thought. So grave and so dark, his body locked down into rigid grinding. Would he be arrested, forced into- slave labor! Or just melted down like the slag pit his optics suffered to gaze! With Megatron's new tyranny there now existed two separate social classes that did not exist before. In short the classes consisted of elites, or the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' which Bumblebee would end up being. Where the have-nots are kept in such dire and horrible conditions that a promise to _show your worth _was so savory. So tempting to do anything to find some semblance of control. Of course to prove ones self, was horrifying. Just kill a little. Fight in the gladiator fights. Be our entertainment. That- was your worth.

It was too much; the emotional over load. It flooded his circuits, he couldn't' handle it, his mind wanted to shut down completely. To wash over in nothingness. He couldn't do that! He couldn't handle being a slave. He saw how they were treated. Hell everything that he had been doing so far was help them escape! Bumblebee knew where his place would be in Megatron's new society. Dead. There was no way round it. There was no way he could handle being a slave. He couldn't kill someone for someone else's satisfaction. Others could though. If hard pressed enough they could! He seen it happen! His mind broke farther. He knew someone who would. Someone that he had always looked up to to keep him sane and safe. But he wouldn't. Not in this new society! Cliffjumper would do it. That is exactly how they make sport of such 'fights'. Bumblebee's body began quivering and demanding to be shut down. The thought of his best friend looking at him with the malice to kill was -

Too much.

His body locked down as did his mind. His only hope now was that it would never reactivate again so he would never have to deal with such thoughts. Let alone the reality. He would stare off into the white nothing for the rest of eternity because focusing on the reality was too much! Optimus and his strongest members of resistance were gone. No one would step up to replace them. The resistance would fracture. The Autobots- Everyone of the Autobots would tear themselves up into the groups who would turn on civility in order to save themselves, or to just await death.

In solemn silence, instead of fearing what was about to come, he just wanted his life to wash away.

Some time later however, his mind did engage. Someone was calling out to him.

"Bumblebee." A long pause. Enough for Bee's mind to realize it was being spoken to. "Bumblebee respond!"

In a pain that he couldn't explain he willed the voice out. It was probably Cliffjumper worried sick over his friend who decided to shut down away from life. The last thoughts of his red mirror's actions for self preservation burned him too much to care. But, then he recognized the voice.

"Optimus!" Bumblebee shrieked and jumped to his feet. His joints gave out on him as the constant hum of vibrations left his sensors on the fritz. Bee crashed into the wall and slid down partially. He cared little, his focus was on his internal communications. "Where have you been! I tried for vorns to contact you!"

The voice was silent on the other side of his comms. Bumbebee was one to never forgo his proper salutation and formal address to anyone higher than himself. His lack of 'yes sir', 'right away, sir', 'thank you, sir' and his frantic responds left Optimus gravely mute.

"Please respond." Bumblebee cackled in hysteria. "Don't toy with me like this!"

"Bumblebee, I am here." Optimus replied quickly. There was an edge in his voice noting that he sensed something direly wrong.

Bumblebee took a moment to recuperate.

"Bumblebee. What's going on?"

"They're all dead. Everyone! The whole place was a wasteland. What they did to them! And the base here! When nobody could get a hold of you- Everyone's starting to panic!"

"It's all right Bumblebee. Let everyone know I'm okay."

"Belay that order Bumblebee!" Ironhide quickly interrupted the comms. The Captain of the Guard throughout his time ever since finding the tiny resistance hiding out in the middle of nowhere had been keen to monitor the new _Prime _and his actions_._ He then turned the spoken conversation to Optimus. But Optimus's internal comms were still open so Bumblebee's keen sensors picked it up the conversation clearly. "It is not allowed for that kind of information to be disclosed!"

"No Ironhide! I realize now that it was a mistake to uphold silence. Bumblebee-"

"No Optimus." Ironhide growled out again to interrupt the new leader. Unlike Ratchet or Jazz or Prowl, Ironhide wasn't one to use the overly respectful Prime in his name. "Prowl's calculations indicate that the Decepticons are moving forward! This is for your own safety and the survival of the Autobot cause!"

"You're concern has been noted, friend." Optimus replied sternly. It was nearly a backhanded remark, but Optimus was able to keep the civility in his words.

"It wasn't just that." Bumblebee shrieked. "They infiltrated the base as Autobots. They tore the place up from the inside out!"

Optimus was silent as he mulled over Bumblebee's warning. "That is graver than what we had suspected."

"When we came here, we informed the others what happened. I'm worried that something's going to happen here too."

"I unde-"

"No! You don't! There's a lot of civilians here! Clif-" Bumblebee cut off the blame game before it even got started. Still it was frustrating to have to explain it without dropping his friend's name. "The civilians and the Autobots are starting to grow uneasy with each other. I'm worried that the paranoia might do something to us!"

"Then it was my mistake for upholding radio silence. Go out and inform the others immediately of our status. I now realize that it caused unnecessary stress." Then as an afterthought, and most likely to Ironhide." That in itself could have tore the Autobot's apart regardless." A very long pause stretched. Optimus turned his communication mute to the Yellow Autobot to perhaps engage in a conversation with Ironhide. Bumblebee felt nervous, but it was much better than being distraught.

"Sir?" Bumblebee asked feebly to interrupt his leader. He did so cautiously as he was sure he wasn't worth the time. There was a click to acknowledge he had Optimus's attention. "I went back and collected the data from Yellow Sector. I thought would be important, to look at, from Yellow Sector." Idiot. "Should I send the data packet?"

"Very good Bumblebee. However in the advent chance that the Decepticons are still hacked into our frequency I will give you my coordination through the subroutine. We'll have to use that or courier until our encryption is up to standard."

"Understood, Sir." Bumblebee replied after a long struggle to figure out how to access his sub route communication arrays and receiving the coordinates.

Then the first thing Bumblebee did was head for his mirror like friend. He paused and noticed that the halls were eerily quiet except for the one location. That made finding his friend much easier than it should have been. As he trotted closer to the noise he realized that it was jeering and threats being tossed out vehemently from a large crowd that had gathered within a hallway. He was taken aback harshly. That his paranoia for one, came true but that it happened so startlingly quickly. He did a quick mental check just to realize how long he had been unconscious. It really wasn't that long! Bumblebee pushed through urgently though he wasn't entirely sure what he was getting himself into. That was until he saw Mirage nearly scrambled on his knees while Cliffjumper was fervidly trying to keep him down.

"What is going on!" Bumblebee shrieked as he jumped between the two and pushed Cliffjumper back. The crowd was howling wildly to slay the traitor while Cliffjumper had death lust in his optics.

"You glitched elite!" Cliffjumper joined in with the crowds jeers with an accusatory digit pointed at the neutral. "Go back to the Decepticon cities! You're not welcome here!"

"Cliffjumper! What has gotten into you!" Bumblebee snarled and pushed Cliff back farther to focus all of his attention onto the yellow Autobot. Behind him Mirage wiped away a streak of blue energon that was seeping through a breach on his face plates. "What are you doing?"

"What's it look like BB? Not only is he an elite neutral, but a Decepticon sympathizer as well! Why would somebody be here under those pretenses! Huh? Not to mention your concern for getting a hold of Optimus!" Cliffjumper stared at Mirage.

"I didn't realize wanting to get a hold of Optimus was a crime! And what- How, What does being an elite even mean to you people?"

"Us people? Oh buddy boy, us people, aren't about to let-"

"Cliff." Bumblebee growled and once again pushed the advancing red Autobot back. "Everyone needs to settle down!"

"Settle down! How could we possibly settle down!" A crowd hissed at Bumblebee.

"Optimus is alive! Okay? Settle down." Bumblebee hissed. He glared at the crowd. They did actually settle down per his order. Bumblebee clicked then whipped his head to Mirage.

"No. Forget this!" Mirage seethed back returning an accusing digit. "This isn't why I came here!" Mirage drooped and then seethed. "Forget it. You glitches aren't any better!" with a cold set of optics, Mirage hastily retreated down the hall. The crowd mulled and Bumblebee couldn't help but get a tingling feeling on his armor that while Cliffjumper seemed a little dismayed at the moment, that he took this as some sort of triumph. And now, for what Bumblebee did best. He trotted after Mirage to hopefully ease the tension and to defuse all this irrational hate.

"Mirage wait!" Bumblebee called out when the two were now out of range of the others. Mirage turned sharply in a pretense to keep the fight up until he saw who is pursuer was. In a spat of disbelief, the turned away with the intention of continuing down his path and ignoring Bee. "Hold on!" Bee demanded. Mirage paused for a moment and then twisted around to ask a pointedly odd question.

"Why do you hang out with him?"

Bumblebee wasn't sure how to respond. It was such an odd question it caught him off guard. Mirage nodded to indicate Cliffjumper.

"Don't judge the Autobots by his actions."

"His actions!" Mirage heckled. Bumblebee held up his hand to quiet any further protest. It didn't work. "I just got attacked and accused of being a traitor! For no reason!" Bumblebee sunk. Cliffjumper's actions were becoming troubling as of late, and he was running out of reasons to defend him. So when he didn't respond, Mirage continued. "You think I don't notice what's going on in the cities? The slag I've seen! I came here because I don't want to be a part of it! I don't want to start a war either! Somehow that makes me a sympathizer! No! Forget it!"

"Mirage!" Bumblebee jumped forward and grabbed Mirage's shoulder as he turned to leave again. It nearly rewarded him a swat with the back of Mirage's hand. "Please. Hear me out." Bumblebee vented noting that even for as long as he spent in the contamination shower, it had yet to remove all the horrid debris from his internal valves. "I'm going to give you the coordinates to Optimus's new location. If you don't want to side with the Autobots, that's fine. But please don't make that decision lightly until after you've talked to him." Bumblebee held up a data disk that held all the information needed. Mirage stared at it, glanced back at Bumblebee and then snatched it out of the Autobot's grasp.

"What makes you think you can trust me?" Mirage asked wearily while avoiding eye contact. Again Bumblebee wasn't sure how to respond. "You're friend could be right." He scoffed. "You would have just given me everything I needed." Mirage was shaking his head solemnly.

"Yeah well." Bumblebee replied in a shaky tone. "I still believe there is good among us." Mirage pulled a tiny disbelieving smile onto his faceplates with another slight scoff.

"Awfully trusting of you, isn't it?" Mirage took the data disk, secured it in a slight of hand maneuver and trotted away. Several paces away he stopped, he looked back at Bumblebee and then light skittered across his armor. A nanoklick later seemingly disappeared. Bumblebee drew back in unease and alarm at Mirage's ability. Then in the seemingly silence Bumblebee muttered.

"This is why I have friend's like Cliffjumper."


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry, I posted the chapter prematurely. For one I realized it needed to be longer to be in sync with the other chapters in this story. (longer than last chapter even) Two, I wasn't happy with the tone, so somethings are going to be rewritten slightly. Three, sorry about the delay at reposting and to those of you who now have to reread the first bit. PS, both stories should be about equal for word count, which means I may start working on Senseless Reckoning soon.

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He laid still in the assuming darkness. Most likely it was dark, and it was doubtful there was much light to sting his optic, still, he didn't really feel like opening his apertures to check. Though now he was almost bored enough to do so. Instead he grumbled to himself. With a new uncomfortable pit nestled deep inside his chest, he had hoped that willing it away would make it recede. No luck and oh, goodie. As if his existence wasn't going so wonderful already, he had a new irritation to deal with. Lady luck sure loved to mess with him. He just wished it wasn't the bad luck lady. Or however, random human- proverbs? Went. He shifted his position so that he lied ventrally, belly side down. More time passed; boredom grew. Now he vented, billowing up a cloud of dust off the ground. If it wasn't the pit getting to him, it was the grating grit between his parts. The blood seepage that was now speckled across his body. Whether that was the reasoning for his memory or if the memory provoked this horrid reminder of Riley's condition, he wasn't sure. Regardless, he didn't want to deal with that either. He groaned as his apertures finally squinted open. Since ignoring the irritation wasn't working and the boredom was soon going to create another onslaught of negative emotions and memories to bide his time, he decided to get up. As he shifted weight onto his arms, he realized just how weak he felt. Nestling back down he propped himself up on one elbow and glanced around for Sari.

"Sari?" Nothing responded. Placidity turned to alarm when she was nowhere to be seen. No light for that matter. He shifted senses to look for her life force. When that registered nothing as well he leapt to his feet. His head and back crashed into the low hanging ceiling. He cried out in surprise as the force nearly threw him back down to his knees. The pain from his wheel and the irritation in his chest mattered little for his new pressing plight. _Where is she!_ He froze. He didn't somehow crush her last night, did he! The thought threw him into a frenzy. His headlights soaked the ground as he frantically searched for her body.

She wasn't there either.

"Sari!" He yelled. He straightened to his feet again this time careful to avoid the cramped walls. "Sari! Where are you?" His howl echoed through the desolate chamber making him feel even more isolated. He stumbled out into the hall with his sensors completely perked. "Sari!" The only reply he got, was his own voice's echo. Then it dawned on him. She was gone. She just left. He stood stunned in the silence as the irony sapped him to the core. He heckled humorless laughter that quickly receded into a groan of his own idiocy. This is when he finally managed to push her away? Now? Why! Was it the confession that she might actually mean something to him? And now that she wasn't here, that's when he wanted her the most. Still, he did this to himself, he was sure of it. Now he had to live with the consequences, regardless if he liked them or not. Not that there was much he liked lately anyway.

He looked around glumly. Only one passage looked like it afforded him the room to navigate. One direction lead him back outside, or that wrenched little trap that nearly snared him last time, and the other to the unknown. Which was just as unsavory. But there, people weren't trying to hunt him down. Or so he hoped. Hah. Hope.

With a dreaded grudge he stepped towards the unknown.

"Bumblebee?" Four steps in the name echoed down the cavern. Each bounce from a wall rippled the voice. Bumblebee whipped around to it's point of origin in alarm. Even relief. He wasn't on his own after all. But he looked in dismay as he soon found himself staring at a wall. What he located was the echo's last bounce.

"Sari?" He muttered back. His sensors flattened for a moment before he dared to hope Sari was nearby. Facing a tunnel they perked to the silence as he waited for a followup. They flicked at an indistinguishable noise. Bumblebee's head snapped towards the dark tunnel behind him. He listened in carefully, but his relays wavered and hissed with bad feedback or maybe it was just more echos. His face twisted in confusion. With a shallow and nervous vent, he carefully limped down the hall to go investigate. As he slowly made his way he glanced over the small openings in the wall. Peering into the holes he knew that some were actually big enough for a human to fit through. Disturbing, because if Sari slipped down one of them, he'd never be able to follow. Giving them a weary passing glance he slowly continued down the large hall. The caves were too dark to examine. If these were recently crafted tunnels or old caverns created by human hands he couldn't tell off hand. Decidedly, he wasn't going to expend any more energy to check; he already wasted enough. Despite just waking from a recharge, he could still sense his levels of energy were low. Being denied any sunlight didn't help. It made him really hate the dark pit he was trapped in. And just as he cringed at such a thought, the walls ahead of him narrowed. Twisting his body to force his way through resulted in a sharp scrape. Just as he slipped though, seemingly from behind him, or possibly to the left an abyss of an echo sounded eerily like his name. His attention snapped with him making a snort. He stared at the blackness. Was he going the wrong way? Or was that just him making noise! As he listened to the resounding halls, he decided that he did, in fact, hear something. Voices. Those were close enough to be tangible, though he couldn't make out exactly what they were saying. He crept, trying to be as silent as possible, if anything so he could possibly hear something beside his own clunking; to no aid from his bad leg. As he got closer he could determine a man and woman's voice. But as his senses failed to grasp their true capacity, he couldn't quite make out any recognition of the speakers. He knelt down behind a ridge and studied the cavern just beyond his sight. The voices were in an angry but low toned argument. His sensors peaked further. He didn't think it was Sari's voice, but the man's; maybe it was Marcus? He was sure he recognized the voice before, but he couldn't fit the vocal patterns together. As his attention peaked entirely on the room, he failed to realize the plodding footsteps that were hastily approaching him from behind.

"Bumblebee!"

Bumblebee cracked a loud rasp of alarm despite recognizing Sari's voice. Falling back his body cracked sounding like a buckling car as the wall broke his fall. Rock from the wall gave away to his weight. He sunk lower to the ground as rocks scuttled away.

The man's voice from inside the room yelped in alarm. The other voices went silent. Bumblebee pulled himself away from the wall but his wearily damaged body struggled with the tight passageway.

"Who's there!" The man's voice demanded. Optics jumped from Sari to the room beyond his sight. It was definitely not Marcus's voice! Sari quickly turned her flashlight out to engulf the two in complete darkness. From the direction of the voice, a chaotic and frantic sweep of light bounded towards their location. The two tried to make a hasty retreat. Sari clung to the wall to use it as her path through the darkness. Bumblebee begun to retreat as well but to his dread, realized escaping would not be fruitfully quiet. His shoulders rubbed against stone and his body clunked horribly. He turned to see how much, if any, time he had to make his escape. None. The wielder of the light entered the end of their tunnel. The beam turned into a starburst as it burned towards them. In a silent flurry, Bumblebee shrunk farther into the wall to avoid the skittering spotlight. He was lucky that the halls were not a nice clean cut passage, but instead allowed nooks and crannies to slip into. Still it almost wasn't enough. As the light bound up to the wall just barely guarding him, Bee dropped his head back, and just barely missed the spotlight's graze. Sari too, slipped tightly against the wall. The light fluttered back and then paused for a moment. Bumblebee attempted to peek but quickly decided against it in case the light's castoff gave away his position. Presumably the section of wall Bee had fallen into was being examined. With an inaudible whine, Bumblebee's optics snapped to Sari. She was strafed against the opposite wall, all her focus was entirely on the light. Or probably, even the man holding the light. Her vantage point would have allowed it. But then again, her light absorbing sensors probably wouldn't gain any greater knowledge from this darkness. Bumblebee readjusted his footing in hopes that his bad leg could hold up to make a silent retreat while the light was preoccupied elsewhere. Carefully he backed down the passage using the wall as his brace. He managed three quiet sidesteps before rock crumbled to sand and drained down behind him. Bumblebee froze, and predictably the light pointedly investigated the direction of the sound. That star burst beam burned down the full range of the black hallway. It stayed there for a grueling eternity as it's operator now knew something was there.

Bumblebee was trapped. If he were to move anywhere out of this crevice, the light would surely mark him. Then to his dread, the light drifted lower and settled on the ground, still aimed to light up the hall. Bee's toe cap shifted slightly to avoid being glinted upon as the light made a sweeping pass across the ground. Another silent whine slipped through his voice processor as his optics slowly returned towards the light's source. A distinct clank sounded as a bullet was chuck into it's chamber. A quiet foot step. Then another as the man broke through the light as he carefully and cautiously stepped down the tunnel. A vent couldn't be contained in silence as the man stepped so close; so threatening. Metal digits gripped to the wall behind him, more pebbles rained down to the floor. There was so much edge in the air. He could hear the tightly controlled breaths of fear.

Sari tried to back up. Her foot skittered a rock across the floor. The barrel of the gun drifted into Bee's line of sight. It was aimed in Sari's direction.

Sari's direction! Bee panicked. He lunged.

"Bee!" Sari squealed in surprise as a raging ton of yellow metal went rushing out into the open. A rifle blast spit an ear shattering zing in the air. The man flew back and tumbled across the hard ground after being impacted by a machine. Past him, and back in the darken passageway, a blood curdling scream shattered the air and was then muffled. Another yell warbled out with hers; this one male. Bumblebee shot his optics up to see two other humans. They slunk back and huddled in each others arms seeing the giant beast plunged in bright illumination from the lamp. Not a threat; Bee returned his focus on the man who was lying on the ground. Haloed by the bright light himself, he picked up his head from off the ground and his eyes widened at the monster before him. They jumped down to the gun which had landed between the two. Sari, breathing hard behind Bumblebee, stepped up once she recovered from the sound of the rifle. Bumblebee could have been hurt. Now seeing the weapon lie there, and seeing the man's intention, she ran forward to intercept his path to his weapon.

"Don't move!" She yelled and her own gun solidified the order. The man froze, his arm already reached out to retrieve his weapon. In the darkness a gasp sounded and Sari caught the shape of two more silhouettes.

"Girl, what are you doing? There's a giant robot behind you!" The man in the darkness gaped.

Her eyes darted back to Bumblebee. She grabbed the weapon and made a hasty retreat to her friend. Her eyes then locked onto the three possible threats in the room, but in an exasperated voice, whispered to the robot. "Bumblebee! Are you okay?"

He didn't respond. His optics were locked on the dark skinned man who pulled himself up to his knees. His arm reached around to cradle his rib cage while he winced.

"What is this?" He demanded with a seething breath that pinched his chest, weakening his voice.

"Just- stay back!" Sari hissed at him. The two shadows retreated farther back. The man in front raised his hands in surrender. Sari turned her head to see in vain where Bumblebee was struck. "Bumblebee? Bee!" Sari shouted for the yellow robot's attention. His head snapped to look at her. "Are you okay?"

He snorted realizing that Sari was prodding him. Something that alarmed him because he could barely feel her touch. Quickly examining her gaze, he then realized why she was so worried. His optics drifted upwards to the ceiling where the bullet tore into loose rock. "I didn't get hit." He muttered quickly with a wave of his hand to get her to take a step back. Content with his answer, she turned her attention back to the three people.

"Who are you?" Sari demanded. The man looked back at the couple behind him. Sari couldn't see them anymore. She fidgeted. "Step into the light where I can see you!" Her gun waved the urgency of her command. They slowly obeyed. Even the man who she could see obeyed. He stepped closer. Fully engulfed by the light now, the light blighted from behind his body and the walls laminated his features so they could be recognizable. Bumblebee rasped and stepped back. He now put recognition to the voice. And- his optic glowed in horror. This man- he had hurt him! Bumblebee shrunk. His optics dropped shamefully to the floor. Meanwhile, Sari licked her lips as her grip tightened around her gun. The man's height gave him a good two heads taller than her and despite the low light saw his thick chest and arms ripple with muscle. "Are you a hunter?" Sari asked sheepishly. He just looked too calm and placid for what he was going through. He also looked like if he wanted to he could easily overpower her, regardless if she had a gun or not. She glanced up to Bee, relieved that he was her saving grace he didn't.

"Hunter?" The man repeated with pursed lips. Again he glanced at the two behind him. And that's when Sari noticed something to make her skin crawl. Her breath ripped out of her as if something squeezed it from her.

"No." She muttered as her eyes fell upon one individual in particular. The woman huddled in her husband's arms had a protruding stomach. Sari shook her head in disbelief and horror before she could finally gawk out why. "You're pregnant." Sari stammered while she took another step back. And not just pregnant, her stomach was large and swollen showing at least a good eight months on her. Sari shook her head in total disbelief. "This can't be happening! This can't be happening!" She breathed unsteadily. "Bee! _T__ell me this isn't happening_!"

The robot above ticked at her unusual request.

"You'll let us go now?" One of the men asked, but Sari didn't know which one.

"Let you go!" Sari gawked. Then trembled as the situation fell fully onto her shoulders. "No." Shaking her head she began pacing chaotically in place as she tried thinking through her options. "We can't let you leave!"

"What do you mean can't let us leave?" The man cradling his mate yelled. Then with horror, came to his own conclusion. "You're going to kill us?"

"What! No!" Sari spat back matching his horror. She then gave a wayward glance to Bumblebee. Then in growling fury unleashed her voice. "What the hell are you even doing out here anyway? Why? The. Hell is there a pregnant lady! Out in the middle of robot central? You should be in City where you belong! Not here! What's wrong with you!"

The man in the red shirt glanced back to the couple. The facial expression he wore seemed to indicate that he had asked them the same thing. Now he had precisely the backup he needed to prove his point.

"Wrong with us! Your the one with the damn robot! This is supposed to be human territory!" The other man stammered back.

Sari gawked open her mouth to say how inane that comment was but could only get her expression out through her horrified body language.

"At the hospital! That was supposed to be safe!" He heckled then started screaming something intangible about robots.

Sari froze, gulped, then took another step back which this time crowded the giant mechanical beast into a corner. As Sari tried to control the constriction of her chest to let in a breath of air, her eyes glittered with stress. So much, she didn't even want to deal with it. She glanced behind them to see the opening from which they came from. Closer now, she could see some low light illuminating out from presumably a room.

"Where does that go?" Sari's constricted voice trembled. She pointed to the hall behind them.

"It doesn't go anywhere."

"Then- get in there." Sari ordered. Her voice struggled to be firm. The small group exchanged glances before returning their careful watch on the girl and robot. Sari snapped at their delay. "Go! Right now!" The couple startled and quickly retreated. The man stared at her for a moment before following. Glancing back he slowed. Sari, with her mouth clasped with one hand while the other arm weakly held onto the weapons, was already occupied wit a busy pace back in forth in front of the robot; too excited to notice that he had stopped. With the robot too busy watching the girl, he decided to duck into the shadows and listen in.  
"Bee, what are we gonna do? What are we going to do?" She chanted and mumbled in exasperation. He quietly warbled more confused than anything. After making a few more rounds, she settled for a moment by crouching down next to him.

"Shit." Sari ran her fingers through her hair. "What are we going to do? Bee, if we let them go, they'll run right back to the hospital. They'll tell them where we are!" She barely took a moment to reflect their doomed predicament. "This can't be happening!" Sari was began to rock on her haunches. "This _can't_ be. Happening!" The two weapons haphazardly collapsed out of her hands and rattled across the ground. Her hands were now too busy cradling her head to care about weapons. She whimpered. Bumblebee optics drifted towards the cavern entrance for any peering eyes. Sari snapped back to her feet in a hustle diverting his attention once again. "Okay. This is what we're going to do. We'll just keep them in there, maybe until they fall asleep or something and then, we'll leave. We'll just leave and- and head back to Outpost Nine and everything will be cool. Everything'll be okay again. Or something." She exhaled. "But I don't know this area at all! And those people are still out looking for you. Shit! What if he's one of them! We can't let him get to you! We can't let that happen! Maybe we could-" She drifted with a sickening expression. Then exhaling again, "I don't know what to do Bumblebee!"

Bumblebee was silent as he studied her. All this stress and predicament Sari had to go through was all because of him. He was tempted to tell her to leave him be and leave it up to his own fate. Still, she tried so hard, he hated for that to all go to waste. But mostly it was despite all his efforts, he was finally settling on the idea of letting her win. Something deep inside, wanted her to win. He vented. He didn't want the hunters to get to him either. Still, what if Sari was just wasting her time. And all the stress she was surmounting upon herself! He looked for words to express something to comfort her, or at least make some of this trouble worthwhile but he just couldn't find any. In the end, he just made a low croon. Sari once again retreated to the wall and sat. This time she buried her head into her arms and knees. Bumblebee warbled softly, lowered his body to her level and painfully watched her.

He did so for minutes while Sari continued to be silent. With a troubled vent, Bumblebee finally let his eyesight be diverted. It was to the lamp the man had left behind. The little yellow metal and plastic box blared out light that tickled his armor. Tickled, because like the sun, his armor screamed at the sensation from the radiation it gave out. It was not a normal flashlight, it was like the sun. A very, very weak and pathetic sun. Correction, more like a weak, pathetic moon but- and Bumblebee felt so crude for doing so, but while he stayed close to be protectively near Sari, he stretched his armor out to absorb every ounce of energy that he could. Of course the energy would need to be converted into something his body could use. So after five minutes passed, and with every microjoule of energy absorbed, he began to feel even more exhausted. Since the current danger seemed to be gone, he slowly slumped to the ground.

But the man took that as a signal to approach. Garnering the robot's attention, the man halted. He took a moment to think through his plan. He looked at the girl. He looked at the robot then decided to proceed with much more caution.

"Hey." He spoke quietly to avoid turning up any alarms but Sari bolted to attention, clamored to her feet and reached over to swipe a weapon from the ground. She struggled to get it into a threatening manner. "I'm not going to do anything." His arms raised up with his hands pressed wide open. He took a step back. "I just think, before you do something stupid, that we should talk this out."

Sari gave him a weary glance, then down to better adjust her weapon. This time shifting it well enough that it didn't look like she was about to drop it. Bumblebee tilted his head slightly looking over the man. He did so with a soft vent.

"Get back in there or I swear to god I'll shoot you!" Sari seethed but startled when Bumblebee took the effort to settle his hand against the barrel of the gun and force it down. Both Sari and the man gave Bumblebee a furrowed look. With the girl distracted, the man took this as another moment to make his cautious approach. It provoked Sari back to being defensive. Sari demanded again. "Who are you? Are you a hunter?"

He paused and took a moment to collect his thoughts. "I uh," He stammered. Then with forced confidence answered, "no." He visibly gulped as he looked over at his weapon at Sari's feet. At the same time, he stood steady and firm. His eyes darted back up to Sari's. "And my name's Bridge."

"Bridge?" Sari scoffed. "And what kind of stupid code name is that? You really think your so hot that you can't have names like the rest of us?" She continued to hiss her disdain for code names.

"Actually," he interrupted, "that's my last name, not a code." He shrugged nonchalantly in the name regard. "If you want, you can call me John. Just, John's kind of a common name."

Sari stared at him. She swallowed and regained her readiness with her weapon. She had to admit she was intimidated by him. She realized that when it came to bigger, stronger people, that was what Marcus was always around for. And that couldn't be Bumblebee's job. As she tensed even more noticing how close he drifted to sleep again.

"I'm not a hunter." Bridge then surrendered hoping to dismantle the tension between them. He took another cautious step forward. The weapon rose slightly. "I'm just trying to get a first time mother to the hospital. That's all. Nobody has to get hurt." Another cautious step forward. "Come on. I know you don't want to do anything stupid. Not to a first time mom." His eyes quickly calculated the robot's alertness as he slowly tried to get the girl to disarm herself.

"It doesn't matter." Sari said dryly as she choked back her feelings. "I can't let you go. I can't let them know where Bee is."

He glanced at the robot again figuring to piece Bee to robot.

He drew in an unsteady breath through an open mouth. "But, we can't stay here. There's no food or water. This isn't the place for them to be. It's what I kept trying to tell them. And, man, she's supposed to be due within the week. She can't have a baby down here." He paused to lick his lips. "The sooner we get-"

Sari's face darkened. "That's not my problem! And she shouldn't have been here in the first place!" She croaked betraying her words with her tone. It wasn't their fault their fear made them flee the hospital! And it wasn't Bee who did anything wrong! Sari swallowed sharply. It still got to her though. She couldn't blame people for being afraid of giant robots who had the reputation of killing anything and anyone. That they would be in such a panic to leave that they forgot to grab their much needed supplies. She wavered at the thought, glanced at the man making sure he was at bay, then abruptly knelt down and slipped off her backpack. "Here." Keeping an observant eye, she fumbled with the zipper. Her eyes dodged to her supplies and back to John as she began yanking out her tools and some of her personal items. After five items were pulled she paused. Now she was fully staring at the pack. She too was guilty! The gun slipped out of her fingers. "No." She muttered and focusing entirely on the backpack; she pulled out ruffles of clothes and food cartons. Items spilled out as she rummaged through the contents inside. She muttered a horror to herself. Her attention jumped back to Bumblebee. Her excitability once again, provoked him to be more observant.

"Riley's backpack!" Sari stammered. "I left it back at the hospital!" Shaken, she rummaged through her pack again. When that still proved to be futile, she dumped the contents on the ground. Then she dropped to her knees. Her hands frantically moved the items around. Bridge took another few cautious steps closer around to the girl while she and the robot were distracted. Inevitably, she gave up. Her hand went up to cradle her eye socket, she heaved while thick tears gushed into her cheeks.

The robot made a soft and sad noise as she tried to control herself. The robot whimpered. Like, actually made a whining, whimpering noise! Bridge's eyes shot to the bot. With a furrow in his brow now, Bridge looked back at the girl. While she continued to level herself out, he rested into his haunches simply to observe.

"So." Sari cracked with a sniffle finally calming herself. "Here's supplies. You should be okay for a couple days." Her voice cracked as she absentmindedly plucked the items and disorderly shoved them into the backpack. Averting eye contact, she handed over the backpack to Bridge. His eyes twisted as he looked past the presented backpack and to the girl. He blinked, taking in a quick study that there was something definitely strange with this situation. The robot he noted was avoiding getting too close to the girl, yet at the same time looked upset and wanted to – comfort? The girl. Is that what he was seeing? Bridge exhaled and tensely reached past the robot for the backpack. The motion Bridge did caused the keen silver eye to flicker to his position. Bridge froze, but then the robot seemed to twist away from Bridge's presence. Still the disconcerting tension provoked Bridge to snatch the pack and retreat quickly. Now that the man backed off the robot reaffirmed himself to a protective but hands off guard around the girl, Bridge stared. Making a hmph of confusion or conclusion, reached the opening towards the soon to be parents. Before he disappeared, he gave one last cautious study at the girl and her robot. He shook his head in disbelief and disappeared.

The next hour or so drifted off in near silence except for the hushed murmuring of a discussion that regarded the events of late. They were obviously talking about Bee and Sari hated it. Her eyes burned at the room she couldn't see. Her chest reached it's maximum allotment of pressure before she exhaled. She glanced back at Bumblebee. He looked like he was asleep. It wouldn't be such a bad thing if it wasn't two things she had known about him. First was that in the past before all the trauma and stress he endured, she never caught him sleeping. The only exception was the time she couldn't wake him and he nearly bled to death. The second was this morning where she again couldn't wake him. Considering how he had been hooked up to an electricity generator to make sure he stayed alive it worried her immensely. There was no energy this time, and the energon she had saved for him, was-

back at the hospital. In Riley's backpack.

She exhaled. "Bee?" She stood and tried to get him to respond. "Bee!" She spoke loud enough to get his attention. With a quiet groan he hazily acknowledged her. Then his head drifted back down and his optics closed down again. "No, hey. I need you to stay awake! You can do that for me can't you?" Sari wrapped her arms around his chin and tried pulling his head up again. It was, as she imagined, heavy. His lazy optics settled on her again. "Please? You gotta stay awake. Okay?" The aperture's blinked drearily. He rolled over off his shoulder and propped himself up on an elbow. It was then, that Sari noticed the harsh crack in his jaw. Her finger grazed over it and she frowned at the dusty rust that rubbed into her finger. Her sharp confusion drifted up from her finger to his optics. Again Bee was sinking back to unconsciousness. "Hey!" She struggled with the aid of her shoulder to pick his head up farther and keep it up.

Bumblebee blinked again in attempt to be alert and he vented. "Sari, please. I need to-"

"I know, but you have to stay awake okay?"

He made a mumble of reluctance. Stretching out his armor to saturate itself in the light his head drifted back down.

"Bee please. Stay awake?" Sari pleaded.

He gave her one last soft, measly groan and drifted into a recharge. His weight was too much for her to contain. She yelped and twisted so that the heavy metal head wasn't boring into her shoulder. His head crashed down to the ground in a harsh thunk.

Now she had to endure the same murmuring as before, but now with the addition that Bumblebee was out, leaving her to fester alone. Instead of biding her time by staring at three individuals in loathing through a wall, wishing she knew what they were saying; she had nestled down in between the shoulder and head of the large robot. She had found something of solace. Proof that indicated Bumblebee was alive. Absentmindedly, she dragged her fingernail up and down the antenna like sensor on his helm. Despite his slumber the most sensitive of his sensors still responded to her touch. Like now, as the metallic antenna flickered and twitched at the sensation of her fingernail drumming across the infinitesimal cracks and indents of the metal. At times it pressed down into it's grove to hide itself away, but there was no stopping the pesky fingers. This had gone on for minutes now since she made the discovery. And while she was sure Bumblebee wouldn't be thrilled with this method, as his sensor tried to shrug her off the same way a cat's ear flicked away a pesky insect, it made her content and somber. So up and down her finger dragged; the piece of metal shuttering as it went. She paused only when she caught the dreadful intuition that she was being watched. Her head shot up and her eyes pointedly glared into the darkness. With her eyes already adjusted to the low light, she pegged out the silhouette rather easily.

"What do you want?" Sari demanded. The shadow startled at her tone.

"Sorry." The female voice responded. Sari would have continued to glare at her if it wasn't for Bumblebee's helm sensor finally getting it's just reward. It again slammed down to hide in it's groove, but this time it managed to capture half of her finger. Sari gawked in surprise. She twisted all her focus onto yanking her finger out of the vice. Once freed she gave the offended white and red mark the sanctuary of her mouth. Sari grumbled, wishing that Bee was awake to give him a verbal flogging. Or just wishing he was awake in general.

"Ow." Sari whined as she frantically waved her finger off in the air as if that would shake the pain away.

After some moment, and a reminder of the presence of another entity, the woman spoke again. "I just wanted to let you that we made some food. If you're maybe hungry."

Sari glanced at her, and then looked away. "It's okay, it's yours."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Just take it." Sari mumbled, now dropping her hands into her lap.

The lady stayed shrouded in the dark for a moment, watching Sari and debating whether or not to leave. Sari paid no mind, she returned to irritating Bumblebee's sensors. This time in full force, as if it was they who now deserved righteous punishment. Bumblebee twitched and made a quite mewing at the disturbance to his slumber. He however, didn't wake.

"By the way, I didn't get your name." Holding her protruding stomach she cautiously stepped into the light.

Sari scoffed loudly, her body language emphasized her disbelief. "Yeah? So you can know the name of your captors?" Sari bit back bitterly spatting out emphasis on the last word. Her face twisted in a hurtful sneer and her hand finally left Bumblebee's sensors alone. Awkward silence followed. Then, with her rage retreating, Sari's arms went over the yellow helm in a slight hug. Sari muttered more quietly, though still drenched in bitterness. "It's not supposed to be like this."

It took a moment before the woman asked a follow up question. "Like what?"

Sari sniffled. "Everyone must think I'm so stupid. Like I don't know what I'm doing and that I'm just hanging around with the next Jaguar. It's not like that!" She protested and paused as a salty tear stung her eye and then flowed it's warmth down her face. " He's not like that at all! But nobody else will even give him a chance! Nobody. And look at what it's done to him!" In a heavy drenched sigh, Sari rested her head down on Bumblebee's head. The next tear dripped down and flooding a small crack in his yellow armor. She hated that he felt so cold.

"I don't think you would be doing this if you didn't have a good reason." The lady replied dismantling some of Sari's despair. When Sari's head lifted she discovered that the woman had braved close enough to touch the robot. "Is it safe?" She asked motioning if she could sit near him.

Surprised, Sari lifted herself up. "Yeah." She yelped hopefully. With a nod she motioned to a more level spot. Not on the floor, but on the robot himself! Bumblebee's arm. "He won't mind. And if he does, well. He'll just have to take it up with me." Sari sat on more rough anatomy while the woman cautiously looked over the slumbering robot.

"You must be pretty brave."

"Well. He looks pretty intimidating, but he's actually just kind of a big baby." Sari told her while the woman finally dared a seat where Sari directed.  
"He was so sweet when I met him." Sari lamented, now rubbing her hand across Bumblebee's metal. She drifted off into her thoughts before a disheartening thought over took her. One that dared a cautious look up to the woman figuring such a statement would make her run off to the others in maniacal laughter, or tell her what a stupid or insane little girl she was. Instead the woman was giving her a fully attentive stare. Sari swallowed while she thought about what to say next. "You know," She started weakly, "when I first met him, he was so sweet, I actually thought there was something wrong with him." She almost laughed at this. Almost. "I actually asked him if there was." Now she almost wore a smile. She sniffled while simultaneously wiping a tear off of her cheek. "He really wasn't too happy with that question. He was just like, omigawd. That is so insulting! What a total jerk! Well. He never actually said anything like that. Actually he didn't even say anything mean at all. He's just-" Her face tightened as she reviewed Bumblebee's current temperament. "Not like now, you know? Now he's starting to get mean. Because-" She choked back her frustration. "Everyone's just been a total a-holes to him. And I, I wasn't always there for him. Cuz, I was scared too. You know?" Another tear blinked off her lashes and down her cheek. "But," her head shook in dismay, "it hurt him. It hurt him so much! Now. Damnit. All I want is for him to be the sweet Mr. Bumblebee I first met." Her voice cracked and threatened to engulf her words into sobs. "Where'es not so full of so much anger and sadness; where he hates everybody for what we've done to him." She was watching Bumblebee as if he should respond to her. Which predictably, he did not. Accepting that he wouldn't, Sari twisted back to give the lady a corner of her eyes stare. "So why are you here?"

The lady shifted her position and stayed silent. But she looked at Sari in concern. Sari's eyes dropped away. Apparently she could see what Sari didn't want to be seen. And she hated that it could be visible. That the stress was visibly toiling away at her. The past month hadn't been going so well. She wasn't eating or sleeping much, and a lot of what she did do was taxing to her system.

"I'm so sorry about this." Sari mumbled. "I don't know why Bee- I heard him calling for me. Maybe he thought you were me or something, I guess. I don't know. Stupid." She caught herself shaking her head. She sighed and wrapped her arms up tighter. "Everything just keeps get's worse and worse. I'm sorry."

The lady by her side carefully reached over and touched Sari's back in comfort. Sari startled sharply. Shocked that she would be offered comfort? She shot the woman a questionable look. Then pleading when she realized that the woman was indeed, trying to comfort her. Sari's eyes turned so blurry she couldn't see. The desperation for comfort overtook her so badly. She dared to be engulfed in the woman's arms in a much needed hug. When she was accepted into the embrace her stress couldn't be contained. She sobbed louder than she wanted, and buried her head into the woman's shoulder to quiet herself. Minutes went by until she was even remotely satisfied. The pressure being relieved and the warmth- Sari just wanted to relish it. Eventually though, partially for needing the space for a clear breath, Sari relinquishing her hold. Pulling away, Sari couldn't bring herself to face the woman afterward. So she busied herself by dotting off the moisture from her face with her sleeve.

"So," Sari's voice staggered. "I'm going to bring you back to the hospital." Her voice strengthened after a sniffle. "I've decided that's what I'm going to do. Just- I have to make sure Bee's okay too."

"I should-" The lady started. She seemed to be choosing her words carefully. She'd been doing that all along so her pause wasn't surprising. Then her mouth opened, she was about to say something.

"Christine!" Her husband shrieked. He somehow lost track of her and freaked at where he had found her. Both girls turned and looked at him in surprise for they didn't hear him enter. "Christine! Get the hell away from that thing right now!" He didn't dare come any closer, but was frantic for her safety. He pointed to the ground at his feet in demand as if that would make her move faster.

She turned to Sari. Sari's eyes twisted down. The woman grasped one of Sari's hands. "I'm going to get you something to eat." She told her mildly despite her husband's frantic motions. Sari nodded numbly.

* * *

It was much later now. Far later than he would have liked. He was keeping watch inside the small room. It was hard not to when on just the other side of the wall a giant robot lurked. He glanced over at the couple sleeping. He shook his head in annoyance and disbelief at the woman. So, possibly the Outpost Nine robot? A threat to the citizens of City? She didn't think so. Her husband did. Bridge had yet to make up his mind. His thumb subconsciously flicked out a flame on his lighter. Something mindless he could focus on instead of the situation at large. The room lit up and darkened in intervals as the flicks kept him occupied. It went on for over a minute before he couldn't stand being cooped up any longer. He dared to see if he could sneak out. Hopefully by now, the girl would be unconscious as well. The last thing he needed was to have her sick her pet on him. It's been long enough and with everything being as quiet as it was, there was a good chance he was the only one awake. He nodded to himself, packed some of his things, stood up and walked down the hall. The robot wasn't in the tight tunnel he first encountered him in. It seemed to be a good sign. Braving out farther he soon crossed out into the corridor. There the hair rose at the back of his neck. A dim blue optic pierced through the darkness. Begrudgingly Bridge turned to garner a better look. The robot was sitting, rather scrunched as the hall wouldn't allow for him to sit straight and comfortable. Below the massive being the girl slept. Figured. Still it was astounding how she could sleep, completely unaware or uncaring that the giant beast hovered over her. Even protecting her? Bridge twisted away uneasily. His lungs heaved unsteadily. He visibly gulped, then forced himself back to face the robot. While he did so, his eyes scoured over the robot's damage until they settled upon the optics. The one bulb of blue narrowed onto the man. It didn't look menacingly evil, but it wasn't something he'd want staring at him. He tried to brush off the dry air between them with another deep gulp. Getting caught, he had to do something to avoid arousing suspicion that he was sneaking off. Slowly and unsteadily, he approached the mechanical creature. Before he could even utter a sentence, the robot slashed his hand past his shoulder and collided it into the wall. Bridge flung out of the way in a fit of crying out obscenities before he could even comprehend what had happened. He wasn't hit. When he finally dared to look up to see, he saw that the robot seemed to be questioning _him_ over his sudden reaction. Bridge slid back across the ground before he landed against the wall. There he struggled to make it to his feet but his legs shook uncontrollably in fright. The robot seemed to disengage the man slightly as he opened up his hand to examine the thing he managed to snatch. As the metal hand opened farther a large insect skittered up the robot's palm. Bridge's eyes blinked in confusion. The insect crawled it's way up to the robot's last finger, it's back opened up exposing a lofty pair of wings, then went buzzing down the corridor.

"A cockroach?" He half yelped, half screeched. The robot again looked at him as if he was the one doing something strange.

"Verifying it wasn't an Insecticon." The robot then muttered flatly. Bridge gawked. The robot explained farther. "The Decepticons use them as spies from time to time. This was just an insect."

Bridge could only stare at the robot as the tiny creature fluttered behind him aimlessly for a wall.

"So you let _that_ live. But people-"

There was a nasty tone of rustled air that escaped the robots throat. The man's legs went limp again. The robot gave him a barely contained growl.

"No." Bumblebee snapped. His optics lowered and he shook his head sadly. "No, it's not like that." With a soft vent he looked at the man. His optics blinked carefully as they looked him over. One was silvery, with a slight blue glow, the other was dark and struggled to match it's counterpart's movements. The robot rolled over to his hands and knees as that was the easiest way for him to navigate the tight space. He then circled around the man trapping him. Bridge huddled against the wall while looking to his fleeting exits in frozen fear. The whites of his eyes flickered brightly as he did so. Bumblebee then settled back into the wall trying to give the man some room. "I know who you are John Bridge. I know what you do."

Bridge tensed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Bumblebee dipped into silence. Ignoring Bridge's question he stayed on his own train of thought. "I'm sorry if I wounded you."

Bridge's eyes narrowed in confusion. "I'm fine." He nearly whimpered. Really, he was breathing well enough. At least fast enough.

"And I'm sorry about what happened to Sarah."

"What?" Bridge's fear rapidly turned to shock. He furrowed his brows in confusion, anger even. "what-wha- What do you know about Sarah?"

The robot didn't respond. Instead he refocused his attention to Sari. Partially curling his hand up he rolled the topside of his finger dangerously close to her back. He wavered. He was going to caress her back but he wavered. Slowly his hand retreated, leaving the girl untouched.

"What do know about Sarah!" Bridge demanded loudly. His fear had been banished. He now sounded like he had the brashness to take on a robot for this information. The robot returned his sharp optics back to the man quelling any such desire.

"You were freedom fighters. I saw the two of you back when Megatron was converting the ruined city into his own personal abode. When you and Sarah were freeing the humans he was using as slaves."

"You were there?"

Bee closed his apertures as he vented. "Yes."

Bridge boiled for a moment, then looked up at the robot with a sneer on his face. When he was too angry to form any coherent words they ended up creating a heckled growl. He shook his head incredulously at the robot.

"I-" The robot rasped, sounding as if he was choking back a troubled voice. He shook it off with a breath. His optics drifted elsewhere and locked onto a wall. "I was there. But not as Megatron's guard. I was a slave as well."

"That's bullshit! Man!"

"Is it!" Bumblebee snapped back. His optics, steelier than ever.

Bridge was taken aback with surprise. He softened when he could have sworn he actually saw emotion in that robotic face. Bumblebee's face tore away. His voice box stammered making small noises as he tried to contain it for more conversation. But gave up when he couldn't think of anything worthwhile to say. His knee dragged closer to prop his arm over while he sunk into thoughts.

"A slave? Well. I guess- I don't know." Bridge backtracked while steadying himself against the wall. "You- things kind of all look alike to me. I guess it's hard to tell you apart sometimes. Otherwise, I don't think I remember you."

"Understandable." Bumblebee's tone was dry if not even a little bit hurt. John stared at the robot with a tight lip trying to understand. His eyes dropped down to the sleeping girl. They blinked and back up to the robot.

"So you're the robot nine robot. Huh?"

"I suppose so."

"Suppose?"

"I heard that as a reference to me, but it's not a designation I chose."

"Ah." Bridge acknowledged. "Okay? So, what happened to them? Outpost Nine I mean. I heard they fell apart or were destroyed shortly after or something."

"I can't say. I heard the same rumors. Encountering the members of Outpost Nine some time later, I've concluded that such rumors were spread to discredit my actions."

"Oh." A long pause. "I see." Another long pause.

"Was there something you wanted?" Bumblebee's questioned and looked over Bridge yet again.

"Me? What? Wan- No, I didn't need anything." Bridge then fully worked his way to a stand. "I'm gonna go back, check up on the couple," he was saying as he nodded his head, "make sure everything's cool. You cool? Yeah. You're cool. Why wouldn't you be cool. Right so. Later."

Bumblebee watched with a slightly confused look as he watched Bridge go back towards the room the couple were left in. He turned back to look over Sari when Bridge's voice called back to him.

"Hey."

Bumblebee's head snapped back in curiosity.

"I gotta know man." He took another shallow step up towards Bumblebee. "Did- did she suffer? Sarah, I mean." His tone softened in sadness. "Did she suffer?"

Bumblebee drifted his head up with his optic blighting brighter at the question. Then he twisted his optics away. "I don't know." His voice sounded less robotic than before and more, hurt. After a moment he could tell Bridge wasn't happy with the answer. His head stooped farther. "I was rendered into a stasis lock when it happened. I was unconscious."

"Oh." Bridge blinked and lowered his gaze to the floor. It was obviously a unsatisfying answer. Bumblebee noted. He started to speak, but only uttered a sound as he tried to collect a sentence to speak. Bridge heard and looked back up and noticed that the robot collected his hand into a fist and squeezed it. With the force given it trembled and made a sickening metallic pops. The memory was unleashed, and Bumblebee cringed as he gave Bridge his observation as the strength in his fist receded.

"I would imagine it was quick. I know they killed them out of fear rather than malice. Megatron-" Bumblebee drifted as he cringed inwardly now trying to will the memory back into the recesses of his mind. "It- They didn't enjoy it. Since they didn't enjoy themselves, they wouldn't have taken the time to torture them. I'm sorry, that's the best I can offer."

The man shook his head in horror. "But they were just kids!"

"I know." Bumblebee whispered. "I did everything I could, but-" Bumblebee trailed off again. "Any attempt I ever made only ended up making things worse. I wanted to help you before. I really did. But I couldn't. Anything I did- There was just too much risk." His head shook at the memory of the grueling modes of torture he was exposed to. "Again, I am sorry for your loss. And everything that has happened because of my kind." He wanted to retreat. He gauged the best possible way out of the corner of his optic. But then, Sari would be left alone. Even though he doubted it, he wasn't going to leave her at risk to a human who would enact revenge by hurting her. Especially now that the man had something to hold over his head. With a whine he twisted around and hovered over Sari. Readjusting his arms he circled them around her while snuggling his head down to the ground near her, careful to remain at a not touching distance. He closed his apertures. He focused every sensor onto Sari's heartbeat. And possibly even visibly cringed with a whimper as he tried to will out his memories. He did not want to think about what happened.

Yet control over his emotions and mind just didn't work like that.

He really wished he could though.

* * *

Bellowing screaming saturated the air. It was loud enough to pull Bumblebee out of his current pastime. The new hobby consisted of staring at the dirt when he wasn't being threatened, harassed or forced to do the Decepticons bidding. The bellowing of course, came from a Decepticon. He tried to ignore it, that is until the word flesh bag and destroy were uttered in the same sentence. He cringed and begrudgingly allowed his interest to peak.

"I can't take it anymore! The miniature flesh sacks won't shut the slag up! I'm going to kill them! I'm going to kill them all!"

Bee stared at the hill blocking his view to the speaker's rage. His sensors were perked in fear. Quickly he pulled himself up over the ledge for a better look. A few hundred yards away he saw an assortment of Decepticon guards hovering over a female and a large group of young children. Bee's spark fluttered in fear.

"Please! You can't punish them for being frightened!" Sarah begged. She was one of the freedom fighters Bumblebee was so accustomed to seeing roam around the area. Quickly he surveyed for the other, the man Bumblebee now registered as John Bridge. Before by Sarah's account, it was just John. He was across the trench. By all appearances, he made a bold attempt to flee but now was reluctant as he realized his comrade had been captured. Or, gauging at what was going on, sacrificed her safety in a feeble attempt to protect a large group of children that had been segregated from the general populous. Bridge pitifully stared back when he realized they were surrounded and he couldn't do a damn thing to help.

"They're loud!" The Decepticon shrieked again. "You should do well to teach them some- _silence!" _His weapon transformed out of his side hip, he grasped it and leveled it over the children. "I will make them silent! Permanently!" Sarah did her best to shield them from the culling that was about to take place. For Bumblebee, good intentions always trumped his common sense, especially in cases like this. He bolted forward and grabbed the arm that held the weapon. He pulled the weapon back. In surprise Fang whipped around and shoved Bumblebee backwards. The crowd split open as Bumblebee stumbled through them, now realizing he intruded upon them, all optics fell onto the yellow-

Autobot. Very bold. Very bold indeed.

"Did- did you just touch me!" Fang shrieked a disgusted accusation against Bumblebee.

That was a yes. Bumblebee dodged his optics around now realizing just how much slag he got himself into for making his presence known. The crowd swooned at the foolish act. Bumblebee took a timid step back feeling the heat boil over him. He was outnumbered thirteen to one. The commotion was attracting even more attention. Even Megatron himself leaned forward in his throne to see the spectacle from afar. But as Bumblebee's optic caught the woman who was wrapping her hand around and pushing a child behind her, he turned firm. Bumblebee had to do what he had to do. He pulled himself up into a defensive position. In astonishment for the brash boldness the Autobot dared to display, jeers and whistles of foreboding erupted from the crowd. The Fang scoffed incredulously.

"Oh you're so dead Autobot!" A heckler from the crowd boomed. The language was still kept in English. No need to deny human ears from listening in on the fun.

"You think you can take me on!" Fang flung out his arms in a gesture to impose himself as larger than he was. Catcalls and sharp spats of laughter turned into a chant for a fight to break out. Bumblebee drew in more defensively obviously not ready to back down. The Decepticon chortled.

"Is this pile of trash serious?" Fang asked the crowd. Bumblebee did not relent. "Well then, let's make this interesting shall we?" Fang tossed out his weapon to the side. "How bout this. You win, I'll let the screamy squishies go." He tilted his head in amusement seeing that he had the Autobot's attention. "I win, and I will, _you _will be the one- who gets to kill them!" A smug look etched into his faceplates as Bumblebee took a moment to consider. Upon the slim chance of saving them he decided he'd go along with the ploy. And what a ploy this spectacle was becoming. The Decepticons conversed about how they would bargain off their shares of energon on account of who ever sustained the least amount of damage. Gambling. A human pastime that Decepticons eagerly adapted as their own. Usually spent while watching human gladiator fights, but that fared little interest compared to a challenge of two of their own kind.

The ring comprised of Decepticon bodies and a gap for the small trove of humans, or prize, the two contenders were fighting for. Fang strolled around in a nonchalant strut. He beckoned the crowd to cheer for him. They did. Bee however, fully had his guard up, fists up and armor down.

"Come on!" Fang taunted. He left himself purposely open to suggest this wasn't even a challenge. And quite possibly, it was true. Bumblebee watched him carefully, but the heavy pounding to his head done by Megatron weeks ago still left Bee without a good grasp of distance, speed or at times a firm understanding of where up and down was. When Bumblebee didn't make the first move, Fang lashed out a jesting backhand towards Bee's head. He dodged but kept his fist to himself. He was waiting for the opportunity where Fang really did leave him open. Fang taunted again, again Bee passively dodged the blow. Fang spat in boredom.

"Come on." He heckled. Then yelled while charging. "Let's do this!" The Decepticon lashed out a charge of his fist. Again Bumblebee dodged the blow but this time, jabbed his fist into Fang's abdomen. Fang snarled, twisted quickly and threw his fist out yet again. Bee grabbed it and countered with a quick jab to his foe's face.

"Heh." Fang chuckled rubbing his chin as he did yet another pace off inside the circle. Bumblebee's optics quickly surveyed the humans. Fang jumped at his distraction rushing forward, but Bumblebee expected this, he slipped to the side. He swiped out a foot to trip the Deception. Fang rolled, upon returning right side up threw out his leg in a wide lash. Bumblebee caved to the ground as his feet were kicked out from under him. His head bashed down and his sight blanked into pale colors and non existent lines drew all over his vision. He caught his vision just long enough to see Fang throwing down his heal, cracking it right over Bee's cranial. In a harp bumblebee staggered to his feet while Fang took triumph in the cheers he received. He turned, threw a quick jab into Bumblebee's chin. Bee couldn't counter. A sharp slice down into his neck. Again Bee couldn't counter. Fang finished it by throwing out another kick, throwing Bumblebee's body into the crowd. Except, the crowd broke company so it was the ground that broke Bumblebee's fall. Fang laughed eagerly and waited for Bumblebee to crawl to his feet again. As soon as he was up, he was kicked back down. Bumblebee harped out in pain.

"Come on Autobot! You can do better than this!" Fang flouted. Bumblebee steadied himself on his hands and knees. He threw his optics up to look at Fang. His vision danced and spun colorless images. They focused on Fang. The prizes' lives still hung in the balance. Bumblebee _had_ to do better. His vision snapped to clarity for a moment as the Decepticon bum rushed towards him. Bumblebee readied himself on his knees. One arm braced up and stopped the oncoming kick, the other sliced into the wires on the inside of the leg. Then, his toe caps caught leverage in the loose dirt, he forced his way up to his feet barraging his helm into the bottom of Fang's face. It snapped back in a sick clank and as Bumblebee crashed to his knees again from the dizziness. Fang held his face feeling a slight crack and slurp of energon drip down. Bumblebee forced his way back to his feet, his head aching more than ever. Fang snarled, his body crumpled into Bumblebee's. They broke through the circle, and the crowd opened up to allow it. A swift jab arced into Bumblebee's side. He groaned as the blow was sharper than he anticipated. Then another. Bee threw his fist down into Fang's back in retaliation. Fang retaliated with a harder punch. He pushed Bee back just enough to get a hard and forceful crack across Bumblebee's head. A sharp wailing blare of bright light engulfed the world he saw. The strike furthering the head trauma completely wilted his defenses away, and Fang eagerly lashed in every strike he could while Bee couldn't fight back once again. His hand crashed into the soft spot under Bumblebee's chest grasping at vital cords near the surface. In hand, he twisted. Bee flinched away from the pain, still fighting from the surmounting dizziness spinning from his senses. Another sharp pain from somewhere in his midsection exploded yellow fluid across the ground. Bee didn't know how the damage was inflicted, but he ponied up, focused enough, grabbed Fang's head with his hands holding it still then collided his knee square into Fang's face. Fang snapped back while Bumblebee rolled away, dropping to one knee as a kaleidoscope of disarray danced across his vision. The crowd roared in glee.

"That was good." Fang chortled as his hand tested the further damage on his face. Flicking off a trickle of his own vital fluid now dripping down from his helm, it was brownish in color. He snarled in amusement. "Didn't expect that."

Bumblebee held his throbbing head. His vision slowly flickered back, in streams of haze, lines and colors before he could grasp the view of the environment before him. The first thing he got into his focus was Sarah. She was watching him. Perhaps now realizing that her fate and the fate of the children rested entirely on one of the very kind that was going to kill them. He was flushed with dizziness and heat. Her hero in shining armor, was badly damaged. She likely didn't even know why he was fighting for her. Or what worth it would be as he could barely stand as it is. All it took one one blow to completely dismantle his fighting prowess. His optics closed, fighting back the uncontrollable nods his head was performing as the damaged gyroscopes struggled to regain control. His optics pinched down even harder as he heard Fang's voice triumphantly call out to the crowd.

"Enough of this slag. It's time to get serious." Indeed. Fang reached out from behind Bumblebee, but Bee jumped. He threw his arm out behind him. The back of his fist landed into Fang with a crack. It took Fang by surprise. Bumblebee twisted around, his leg swung around. It impacted, and the next thing Fang knew, he was being tossed down to the ground.

His vision fizzled again. Bumblebee stood partially scrunched to sturdy himself for balance. Bumblebee' narrowed his optics. He had mustered everything he could to calculate and over compensate against the dizziness. Not even a second and he already lost control! How long could he possibly hope keep it up? He had to go further. Now he overrode his internal autonomic functions, even at the risk of blacking out for his lack of understanding what most of them do. He was no medic! But he had to do everything he could in his power to win! This! Fight!

His vision straightened. Balance rectified once again. Bumblebee lunged crashing into Fang just as he stumbled to his feet. He crashed on top of him. Fang gawked as he shook off the sudden disarray and looked at the Autobot. He tried to retaliate, but Bumblebee was focused. It was blocked expertly. Pinning one arm bumblebee threw down a fist. It collided with Fang's face. Then another pound. Then another. Bumblebee knew the only way winning this fight would count was by knocking Fang unconscious. He didn't dare kill him, but he couldn't risk him getting back up under the notion that he had given up, only to back stab him. So he pounded and pounded some more. He wouldn't stop!

"Stop him! Somebody stop him!" Fang shrieked trying to escape the pin and block the fists. Optics looked on questionably among the crowd. "You fools! Help me!" Fang shrieked even louder. Bumblebee then felt two Decepticons rush to his sides and grab his arms. While he focused on breaking their grip, Fang scrambled to his feet. He threw a kick so hard under Bee's thorax that his legs collapsed from under him as he winced in pain. "Bastard." Fang growled. Closing in he lunged his fist into bumblebee's weaken spot under his chest. Bumblebee winced again. Another punch. Bee warbled. In a choked vent he fought to free his arms. When that didn't work, he tried to bolt to his feet but another kick to his back threw him down to the ground. His arms were released. Bumblebee pushed himself up off the ground but another kick crashed into him. Knocked down, the foot slipped under him rolled him over while others jumped down to once again pin him. Now he was flat on his back. It gave him the perfect vantage point to now see six bodies surround him. More blows were driven into Bumblebee's thorax and head while he had no ability to fight back. Even more Decepticons barged into the crowd. They too lashed out kicks and stomps. Bumblebee screeched in pain trying to twist away but his arms were held securely in place. Then a sharp slice entered his body. His optics flooded open in alarm. Someone had used a bladed weapon. He fought against the grapples frantically now. Enough that he managed to break away from one of them! But as he twisted to work on the other, a powerful blow landed at the nape of his neck. He crashed to the ground. His grapple was released but now there were too many barraging him with pounding. It was too much fight back against. He yelped out as he tried. Now all he could do was huddle. Huddle and throw his arms up over his head and cry out as sharp blows broke into his body. The Decepticons circled, each eager for their chance to drum fists or clod heavy feet down at Bumblebee's body. A hard blow crashed into his side hitting where the stab wound was. With a snap of pain, Bumblebee tried to shrink away as his voice cracked with a subtle shriek. Another blow and the shrieked sounded more clearly, more loudly. It pleased the crowd even more. He just wanted it to stop! He almost yelled out in begging but his throat gurgled. It wouldn't do any good anyway, only feed their desire even more! More crashing. Some breaking open metal cavities and sloshing splashes of coolant and energon over the ground. With the dizziness and hopeless situation, he no longer bothered to even shield himself. His cloudy vision looked past all the feet that shuffled, and threw kicks at him. Then a blurry image slowly stood in his view behind them.

"Enough!" Time stopped in a frozen flash.

Megatron's cold voice stopped the crowd cold. They all turned to see Megatron approach and overlook the scene. To their fears, he was not pleased with what he saw. Every step he took towards them, seemed to rupture the earth below his feet. Each pound his foot did, they cringed smaller and smaller.

"Do not kill him." Megatron demanded coolly. Bumblebee lay still. His body was trying to vent in air to cater to his hot circuits but too much of his fluids seeped into his passages. He sounded like an organic struggling against breathing in his own blood. He gagged and winced with a muffled cry. He couldn't see anything past his damaged sensors, but he crooned softly knowing how poor he must have looked. What little strength he had left, he looked up at Sarah. He could barely see enough to tell that she met his gaze. She really did give him a look of pity. Seeing the poor creature try to defend them and how he was so brutally knocked down. He had won, but it was clear that meant nothing. She clutched a child tighter now. He tried to say he was sorry, but his voice cracked and did nothing. His hand pitifully reached out for her, but it slumped to the ground in weakness.

"Fang." Megatron drew his attention to the Decepticon who had started this. Fang looked back terrified to his lord. "I have no room in my army for such cowards." Before Fang could utter one word of pleading, a powerful blast of a plasma gun ruptured the Decepticon's head to pieces. He collapsed in a loud clunk near Bumblebee. The missing head sparked chaotically when the exposed energy reached the air. Energon pooled and drained out of the body.

"Let that be a reminder to not defy me again." Megatron's voice drummed out such commandment that everyone flinched with fear. He turned his attention fully to the crowd. "And you would do well to remember my orders!" They each did their equivalent of gulping or expelling bricks.

"Lord Megatron?" One spoke out trying desperately to hide the shakiness of his voice. "What about the humans?"

"The challenge has been forfeited." Megatron boomed looking to the speaker. "Do what you will, but remember this, Breakdown." Breakdown flinched at the use of his name. "The humans now suspect that one of us will fight for them. It will be _you_ who explains to me what happened when the humans decide to revolt."

Breakdown responded with agonized silence. Then in shaky fear, found his voice again.

"Wh- well why don't we just kill him!" He motioned with a wide sweep to indicate Bumblebee.

"Because my order still stands."

Bumblebee understood what that meant. And it meant more punishment for even trying. His victory truly meant nothing. The woman's expression grew sullen. She knew it too. For Bumblebee, he finally conveyed to the humans that he was on their side, but that too was a short lived victory, because none would live to tell about it.

A pool of energon leaked down from under his helm, it pooled up in his optic's socket and stung as it created a thick coating over his vision. He blinked it away. The glob dripped down and sizzled upon contact with the ground. Just before he lost unconsciousness, he wondered if the humans would perceive that as a tear. Solace, in anyway, that helped them understand that he had tried!

* * *

The memory subsided. His mind quieted now allowing for the recharge to take over. Bumblebee slipped closer to the comfort of black nothingness. Anything but memories. He slipped closer and closer.

Bumblebee snapped awake with a sharp hiss. His body jumped with a loud snort expelling from his vents. His aperture's flung open. Subconsciously he registered that there was a possibility of danger. Indeed. Bridge had apparently taken residence as he waited for Bumblebee to fall asleep. This was known through Bumblebee's startle returning him back to his awaken state. It startled Bridge so terribly that he fell off of what ever perch he had been sitting on.

Bumblebee's senses gushed back to alertness. Bumblebee internally heckled himself for allowing him to nearly slip into recharge again with the presence of people he could not trust! His optics glared at Bridge. In return the human gave him a frightened glance. Bee's face twisted in annoyance but then as his mind slowly connected further, huffed in fret realizing that he nearly fell into unconsciousness practically right over Sari! Bumblebee jumped up in a shriek. Now she lay there not moving! Watching her disconcertingly he waited for her movements. He whined when he couldn't fully detect her breathing. With frantic heaves of his heavy vents he made a commotion hoping she'd move. She wasn't. If he had the space, he would have paced like a caged animal.

Bridge uttered his alarm.

"Sari?" Bumblebee choked. Then heaved a whimper. "Sari!" He vented again when she still didn't respond. He brought his hand down and tempted to touch her. But, he was too frightened to. What meager movement's he could do, he did in a frantic semi-circle pace around her body. He studied her in frenzied worry. Unable to take the unknowing any more, he gave Sari a hefty shove with the back of his hand. She gasped awake.

He huffed excitedly seeing she was okay. He lowered his head down with a more comforted hum. But now Sari ended up being as hysterical as he had been.

"Bumblebee! What is it!" She sat up and asked before she was awake enough to comprehend anything. Bumblebee created more disconcerting noises, before finally venting himself calm.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"The hell!" She gawked with an angry furrow on her face. Especially at such a statement. He pushed her. Hard. And then to say he didn't mean to wake her?

"I'm sorry." He repeated, and again tried to lay down in the cramped compartment. He then tried to ignore her. She scowled and swore at him.

"What is wrong with you!" She shrieked while she pulled herself to her feet.

"Sari, go back to sleep." He growled. She gawked. Now he was growling at her? How could he treat her like this. Fuming she bolted up and walked out of the hall. She slammed anything and everything she could to let him know she was mad at him.

"Oh. Kay." Bridge muttered at the startling display. Bumblebee heaved out every ounce of air from his body and sat in the festering silence.

If ever the moment, Sari yelled out an obscenity at Bumblebee. An order that was rather odd to him, as it implied he should do something which he didn't have the organic functions to perform. Granted, his sensors twitched, he still got what it meant. In short. She was very, very upset with him. More silence burned. He festered and if it was his overly active imagination, could just feel Sari's burn of indignation.

"Damnit!" Bumblebee spat out finally lifting himself up off the ground. With another vent he decided he'd better go look for her. He crouch walked past Bridge, towards the direction Sari disappeared off to. Bridge simply twisted his lip and whistled at the spat he just encountered. Something you don't see every day.

"Sari!" Bumblebee called out. His own tone was still biting.

"Get lost!" She seethed back. It was enough to pinpoint her location. Bumblebee froze in alarm when he realized where. One of those tunnels too small for him to fit through.

"Sari, come one. Get out of there." He closed in. He could see her hidden in the darkness. And, just as he dreaded, she managed to huddle back just past his reach. He still tried. His arm scraped down into the cave, and while reaching and looking in, saw that he still had a hand's length to go in order to reach her. He pressed his shoulder up tight, but even then it was no use. Bumblebee snorted and retracted his hand. Not gaining any new insight as to what to do, curled up with his back to the wall and folded his arms. "What? You think you can stay in there forever?"

"I will if I have to. Or better yet, why don't you just go away." She hissed. Bumblebee glared at the blank wall before him, taking in her voice from behind.

"What's gotten into you?" Bee still couldn't help from keeping his voice from snarling.

"You. Obviously. What the hell did you even do that for? That hurt!"

He gawked but a pang of guilt rolled in.

"And you attack people now?"

"What?" Bumblebee heckled.

"Is that how it works? Is that how you turn into a Decepticon?"

"How dare you!" Bumblebee snarled, he twisted back to the cave and threw his hand in to reach for her again. She sat smugly knowing that he couldn't. Realizing that. He turned even more sour. He ripped his hand out, and curling it into a fist smashed at the wall. "Don't you dare say that! Don't you dare!"

He vented. His core wanted to explode. Heat flooded over his circuits. His anger seemed to boil up at his face, and he wanted it gone. He wanted the anger to go away. But how? How could she say that about him? But the answer to that tore at him even more. Because it was obvious. Because it was true! His core threw pressure to every inch of his body. It felt like he was tearing inside, yet nothing was splitting apart. He shuttered trying to shake off the horrid feeling. His optics glared at the hole. Instead of letting it tear him up from the inside, he rammed his hands at the opening of the cave. He'd tear the wall up. He'd dig her out if that's what it took! Sari jumped to her feet and pressed back to the wall.

"Bumblebee stop that!" She shrieked in fear as the massive hands ripped back chunks of rock leaving etch marks the size of his fingers trailing to the opening. The fear in her voice made him stop cold. He stared. The stress made him dizzy. His spark ached so bad. Finally he receded and settled his back into the wall. Still he burned inside. It exploded. Now she was afraid of him! He really was becoming a Decepticon! He muffled back some of his pained emotions. He cackled out a swear in Cybertronian as any form of release he could get. But it did little. He tried desperately to contain himself. How his body still burned at the gears and his chest- how with such depleted energy levels could he possibly get this worked up! He just wanted Sari out of there. Why the hell was she acting like this anyway?

"Sari please." He forced his voice sterile.

"Screw you."

"Sari." His voice trembled with anger. He huffed. Struggled against his thoughts then spat. "I woke you like that because I wanted to make sure you were still alive!"

"Yeah. Because breathing isn't a good indicator!" Sari snarled back in sarcasm.

"I've seen humans lacerated in two who still managed to have functional breathing! So excuse me! If I don't find that as a reliable indicator!" He was shrieking. Venting in and expelling air out at the pace he was, he could have been breathing. He heckled and drew himself even tighter. "Don't you dare compare me to them! Don't you dare Sari!" He rolled to peer into the hole again. "I can't." He heckled. He shook his head. "You don't know what it was like! The things they put me through!" He backed up then crashed his helm into the wall closing his optics down tight. "How they would hurt your kind then leave it to me to put them out of their misery. Knowing! That I couldn't." He vented with a heaving croak in his throat. "That they'd have to suffer in agony because I couldn't-" The memories of tossing away dead bodies, and the heartache that he endured when they weren't dead! How they would stare at him, crying, begging for him to spare them. But they were dying!n What could he do besides watch them slowly fade? And it's not like his cold metal digits could possibly offer any solace to their demise. He cracked. "That's how they tortured me Sari! Over and over again! Nothing! I could nothing against it! They knew it! It was my job to protect your kind." He had to stop talking. Too many emotions flooded. His voice cracked harder. "They threw it in my face. Everything- They made me do everything I ever fought to stop!" He whimpered and cackled loudly. He was sure his venting was going to cause him to fall unconscious. Not that it mattered! He could hardly stay awake the way it was. All because he was so stupid that he drove through that damn spark disruptor. And why. Catching himself he darted to a new train of thought. One where Riley's blood pooled into the back seat. That red sticky fluid. Hot and sludgy, slipping down in between his seats. Bright red with that uncanny gleam of white that coated it. And now, leaving a grimy indicator of death on his parts. Like the bodies he picked up, or the Decepticons forced him to crush. He was shaking at those thoughts. And Sari, that horrid thought he had about Sari. He could never do it in the past, why would such a horrid thought vehemently exist now? His optic caught her. She wasn't in angry defiance now. She crept closer, if he wanted to he could snatch her now. But that look! That concerned look she gave him. He backed away. His throat cracked again. "I never wanted to get attached!" Bumblebee heckled. "That's why- I never- I knew what they'd do. And Riley! They did that to him on purpose!" He cursed again in his native language. He rumbled internally. Trying desperately to squelch his anguish but he didn't think he could. "Primus! Then I slaggin stepped on him! Then Marcus- How I threatened him! Now I'm just left with you and every time I wake up-I can't take it! I just can't!"

"Bee. Omigawd Bee. I'm so sorry." Sari spoke softly now crawling out of the crevices. As she slowly and cautiously stepped towards Bumblebee. He slunk away from her. He heckled again, and twisted back.

"I'm corrupted!" His hands reached up to cradle the sides of his head.

"Bumblebee, hey it's okay!"

"What I said about Riley! I never meant it! I'm sorry!"

"Bee, shh. That wasn't your fault!" She whispered now. Now feeling incredibly that she managed to provoke the damn robot to tears, if he had them. Still, his expression was unmistakeable. "Bumblebee what happened to Riley wasn't your fault."

"I just wanted you to stay away!" Bumblebee was shuffling away from her. "I didn't want any of you to get hurt. But then you had to come after me!"

"Shhh." Sari's eyes flooded seeing him heave like he was.

"Why! Don't you see!"

"Bumblebee, shhh." She slowly stretched out her hand to reach for him.

"Don't!" He shrieked. Mainly he was running out of room to flee. "Sari, I don't want you anywhere near me." She looked hurt by this. "I could hurt you so easily. I'm not in the best condition right now. Please Sari. I already have Riley to contend with, I couldn't- I just can't."

"Bee, it's okay."

"Sari!"

"Shh." She finally broke the distance so that she could finally wrap her arms around his face. He tried to shy away again, but she snatched him before he could. He screeched in alarm. "Shh. It's okay, Bee. I-"

"Sari, I'd love to have your comfort. I really do. Please." His hand stretched up and held her at bay. "I don't want to hurt you." She grasped two of his digits between her hands.

"I know you won't."

"Accidentally, Sari. Please, I beg you!" She studied him, then adhered to his plea. She released his hand.

"I'm sorry Mr. Bumblebee." Sari whispered again, carefully looking him over. "I've just, been under a lot of stress lately. I shouldn't have- I'm sorry I got mad."

"I'm sorry." He muttered back. With his optics fixed elsewhere. He vented. "So much of this is my fault."

"No it's not." He heckled in disbelief. Not that it surprised her any. "Bee, I want you to stop being so hard on yourself."

He waned, not agreeing with her demand. His optics flickered back to her. "Sari, I know this is so stressful on you. I'm just not sure, if what you're doing for me is worth it. There's nothing I can offer you. I can't compensate you for any of this."

"Bee." She laughed softly. Though not in humor. "You saved me like three times. I think I owe you. Just a tad."

Bumblebee made a soft hmm noise. Sari looked over at him, trying to squelch the want to reach out and touch him. "I'm glad you finally talked to me."

"I," He paused. "I'm sorry." Then seemingly out of nowhere. "I don't want to become them."

She gave him a confused look. "Hey, you won't." He shrunk back again not believing her. "I'll make sure you won't. Okay?" His optics shot a glance at her. "No matter what, I'll be here for you okay? Just, when your upset, I want you to talk to me. I can't help you when you won't let me. Okay?"

Bumblebee seemed to settle down. "I'll try."

"Okay. That's good."

The robot vented. He lowered his head down closer to Sari. "I'm sorry I woke you."

"It's okay. I'll get over it."

"I didn't really hurt you did I?"

"Bee, I'm okay. You just scared me is all."

"I've been scaring myself a lot lately." Bumblebee muttered as his rested his head on the ground. Sari looked at him sadly for a moment before finding a more comfortable wall to lean against. Time passed and neither could fall back to sleep. Three hours passed and Bumblebee's helm sensors jumped to alert. His head picked up shortly after.

"Sari!" He called for her attention while he made it to his feet.

"What is it?" She hustled to her feet. Bumblebee answered her through an expression of confusion. He didn't know. She however, went wide eyed.

"Oh," She muttered a vulgar word. "Bee," she yipped, "how far away are we from the hospital?"


End file.
